LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Leader of the House if he will list for each civil service grade within his Office, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group and (c) age group; and how many are registered disabled.

Phil Woolas: Data on staffing levels in the Civil Service are collected by the Cabinet Office and published in Civil Service Statistics. A copy of Civil Service Statistics 2002 is available in the Library, and at www.civil-service, gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.
	My Office currently employs 12 civil servants and two temporary civil servants as special advisers, including staff supporting the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. The grading breakdown is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Grade Staff number 
		
		
			 Senior Civil Servant 1 
			 Band A 1 
			 B2 3 
			 Bl 3 
			 C2 3 
			 Cl 1 
			 Special Adviser 2 
		
	
	To provide further analysis of (a) gender, (b) ethnic group, (c) registered disabled and (d) age group would identify individual members of staff.

Departmental Computers

Bob Spink: To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Office.

Phil Woolas: The computer hardware and software used in my office is provided by the Privy Council Office under an IS/IT services agreement managed by the Cabinet Office. This provides for desktop hardware to be regularly replaced, and for standard operating and applications software to be kept updated. A major upgrade is planned for the standard office automation software we use towards the end of 2004.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asbestos

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the level of compliance with the duty to manage legislation as it relates to exposure to asbestos (a) now and (b) by the time the legislation becomes legally binding in May.

Jane Kennedy: As a result of a commitment given by the Government to the House of Lords in 2002, the Health and Safety Executive carried out a review of the progress being made towards compliance with the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. The review shows that between 50 per cent. and 75 per cent. of dutyholders are aware of the new regulation and that approximately 40 per cent. were already complying with the duty six months before the regulation was due to come into force.
	Since the review was carried out the HSE has continued its campaign to raise awareness of the duty in order to continue to raise the level of compliance before the 21 May when the duty comes into force.

Asbestos

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what efforts the Department has made to raise awareness amongst small businesses and the self-employed of the duty to manage legislation as it relates to exposure to asbestos.

Jane Kennedy: In 2001 the Health and Safety Commission embarked on a five-year campaign to raise awareness of the duty to manage and to encourage proportionate and effective compliance with the new regulation.
	In addition to the development of comprehensive guidance, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has gained the support of over 3,000 organisations to act as Partners in cascading HSE's campaign messages to a wide and varied audience, including small businesses and the self-employed. The partnership network includes the Federation of Small Businesses which has played a key role in the production of a free 'Duty to Manage' leaflet geared towards the needs of their members. Over 400,000 of these leaflets have been distributed nation wide.
	HSE has also developed a 'duty to manage' asbestos website, which includes good practice examples for new dutyholders, and has produced a range of written guidance.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 8 March, with regard to Mr. David Worthington.

Andrew Smith: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 16 April 2004.

Council Tax Benefit

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are claiming council tax benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The number of Council Tax Benefit recipients in Great Britain at August 2003 is 4,657,400.
	Notes:
	1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person, couple or family.
	2. The figure is rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Council Tax Benefit totals exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.
	Source
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 2003.

Pension Forecasts

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to provide everyone with a personal forecast of their complete pension position as proposed in "A New Contract for Welfare: Partnership in Pensions", page 86.

Malcolm Wicks: Last year the Government began the process of issuing state pension forecasts to self- employed people and we anticipate that we will have sent 1.6 million forecasts by the end of May this year.
	We also continue to work in partnership with employers and pension providers to deliver 6.3 million combined pension forecasts by the end of 2005–06. To date over 700 employers and pension providers have expressed an interest in delivering these forecasts to their employees/scheme members.
	The Government are keen to ensure that individuals who are not covered by the combined pension forecast arrangements do not lose out. We intend to issue to these people a regular forecast of their projected state pension entitlement.

Retirement Planner

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate (a) the initial start-up cost and (b) the annual running cost of his Department's web-based retirement planner, as proposed in Simplicity, Security and Choice: Informed Choices for Working and Saving, page 28; if he will provide a breakdown of this cost to (i) pension providers and (ii) his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: We anticipate that the costs of establishing and running the web-based retirement planner are likely to be less than £10 million set-up costs and less than £5 million in annual running costs. However, these figures are high-level and indicative.
	Expenditure on a new service cannot be incurred ahead of Her Majesty's consent to the Pensions Bill. Following Royal Assent we will be able to engage with suppliers and estimate the potential cost. The exact costs of the system will, therefore not be known until commercial arrangements have been completed.

Retirement Planner

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the average cost per member to private pension schemes for providing personalised scheme-member information in order to facilitate his   Department's proposed web-based retirement planner.

Malcolm Wicks: This information is not available at the present time. Expenditure on a new service cannot be incurred ahead of Her Majesty's consent to the Pensions Bill and consent to that expenditure. Following Royal Assent we will be able to engage with suppliers and estimate the potential cost.

Retirement Planner

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department's proposed web-based retirement planner will be launched.

Malcolm Wicks: As announced in February 2004 in Cm 6111, 'Simplicity, security and choice: Informed choices for working and saving', the web-based retirement planner will be launched in Spring 2006.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Regional Assemblies

John Grogan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect on business of elected regional assemblies in the north of England.

Phil Hope: Improving the economic performance of the northern regions will be at the heart of the objectives of elected regional assemblies. Business will be actively involved in, and benefit from, the work of the assemblies—including economic development, planning, housing, transport, employment, and training and skills.

Deprived Communities

Meg Munn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action his Department is taking to make deprived communities better places to live.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have introduced a range of new programmes backed by substantial investment to improve disadvantaged areas, including the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, Sure Start and neighbourhood wardens.
	Independent research published this week shows crime in warden areas has dropped by 28 per cent.

Housing

Michael Jack: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what studies his Department will be making of the impact of his latest housing policies on the north-west of England.

Keith Hill: The Government's housing policies are encapsulated in the Sustainable Communities Plan. With four of the nine Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders located in the north-west, the region is set to benefit from £332 million over the next two years. A full programme evaluation for the pathfinder programme is to be commissioned. In addition, a full review of North West Regional Planning Guidance will start later this year, and will give further consideration to housing provision.

Housing

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to increase the amount of affordable housing for rent in rural areas.

Keith Hill: The target for approvals of rural housing in small settlements within the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme has been increased from 800 in 2000–01 to 3,500 over the two years 2004–05 and 2005–06. The target for these two years has been exceeded by about 500 in the programme announced last month. The programme includes homes for both rent and low cost home ownership.

Housing

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the effect of changes in the level of council funding for housing upon residents of Wirral, South since 1997.

Frank Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the change in the level of council funding for housing has affected the residents of Birkenhead since 1997.

Phil Hope: Since 1997 allocations of capital funding to local authorities for housing purposes have risen consistently by about 15 per cent. per annum on average. This includes the Major Repairs Allowance the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister introduced in 2001–02 specifically for the improvement of local authority stock alongside the Decent Homes standard which sets out minimum standards to be met by 2010. Wirral's allocations in the period 1997 to 2003–04 have risen by over 140 per cent. In addition to this welcome increase there is support through the Community Housing Task Force and Government Office for the North West to help the local authority and its tenants to choose the best strategy for long term improvement.

Housing

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those respondents to the consultation paper on licensing houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) who (a) supported and (b) opposed the proposal to introduce a duty of care on the owners and managers of all HMOs to ensure the health and safety of their tenants.

Keith Hill: A total of 579 responses were received on the 1999 consultation paper on Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation in England. 363 of them expressed no views on the proposal to introduce a duty of care on the owners and managers of HMOs.
	The five who were opposed to the proposal were:
	Mr. D Ugustod
	South London Family Housing Association
	Mr. G Clements
	Leeds Property Association
	An anonymous respondent
	The 211 respondents in favour of the proposal were:
	National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC)
	Mr. Trevor Alan Murphy
	Leicestershire Fire Brigade
	Society of Mary and Martha
	Mr. Tom W M Turner
	Oxford Fire Service
	Middlesbrough borough council
	University of Newcastle
	Torbay borough council
	Mr. John Stather
	Wigan metropolitan borough council
	Mr. Duncan McCargo
	Yorkshire Coast Residential Landlords Association
	Warrington borough council
	Cornwall county council
	Landlord's Association for Wessex
	Cheshire Fire Brigade
	Leicester city council
	South Ribble borough council
	Mr. David Patey
	Kingston-upon-Hull district council
	The London borough of Croydon
	University of Sheffield Union of Students
	Preston borough council
	Havant borough council
	Reigate and Bansted borough council
	Hertfordshire county council
	The Institute of Legal Executives
	The UK Association of Letting Agents Ltd. (UKALA)
	Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority
	Great Yarmouth Residents Association
	Lancaster city council
	London borough of Newham
	Association of Housing Advisory Services
	Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service
	The Institute of Building Control
	Tonbridge and Malling borough council
	Nottingham Landlords Liaison Panel to Nottingham city council
	The NHS Confederation
	Redcar and Cleveland borough council
	Humberside Fire Brigade
	Guildford borough council
	Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service
	Slough borough council
	City of Salford Housing Services
	Cumbria Fire Service
	Ipswich borough council
	Exeter city council
	Blyth Valley council
	Winchester city council
	Royal Berkshire Fire Authority
	South West Landlords Association
	Metropolitan borough of Wirral
	Nottingham city council
	Cannock Chase district council
	Selby district council
	South Headingley Community Association
	Lancashire Combined Fire Authority
	The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
	Torridge district council
	London Fire Brigade
	Teignbridge district council
	Wyre Forest district council
	Stafford borough council
	The borough of Basingstoke and Deane
	Hartlepool borough council
	London Private Tenants Workers
	West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority
	Portsmouth city council
	Southampton city council
	Cherwell district council
	Metropolitan borough of Bury
	Gloucester city council
	Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire Authority
	Maidstone borough council
	Woking borough council
	Wansbeck district council
	Norfolk County Council Fire Service
	Greater Manchester County Fire Service
	St. Helens metropolitan borough council
	Borough of Spelthorne
	Somerset Fire Brigade
	Stroud district council
	City of Sunderland Health and Housing Services
	Royal borough of Kingston upon Thames
	Stoke-on-Trent city council
	Surrey Heath borough council
	Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council
	The Energy Conservation and Solar Centre
	Association of Tenancy Regulations Officers
	Taunton Deane borough council
	South Hams district council
	Professional Briefings
	Ellesmere Port and Neston borough council
	The Fire Brigades Union
	Sedgemoor district council
	Henstead Road and Canton Street Residents Association
	Rushmoor borough council
	East Hampshire district council
	Stockton-on-Tees borough council
	Lewisham Organisation of Private Tenants
	Brent Private Tenants Rights Group
	Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
	Field Studies Council
	Bradford metropolitan borough council
	Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade
	Brentwood borough council
	City of Durham
	Swindon borough council
	Newcastle city council
	The Hull and District Landlords' Association
	Vale of White Horse
	Chester city council
	Chichester district council
	London borough of Hillingdon
	The Housing Corporation
	Bill Olner MP
	UNIPOL
	Thanet district council
	Northern Consortium of Housing Authorities
	The Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea
	Swale borough council
	North Hyde Park Neighbourhood Association
	British Property Federation
	Wandsworth borough council
	West Berkshire council
	City of York council
	Blackburn with Darwen borough council
	Sheffield city council
	The Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals of Universities (CVCP)
	Yorkshire Region HMO Group
	Nottinghamshire C I E H Housing Working Group
	Doncaster metropolitan borough council
	Gloucestershire Directors of Environment Services Housing Technical Sub Group
	Brent borough council
	Dudley metropolitan borough council
	Oldham metropolitan borough council
	Welwyn Hatfield council
	Eastbourne borough council
	Hart district council
	Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
	Barnsley metropolitan borough council
	Home Office Fire Policy Unit
	Northampton borough council
	Herefordshire council
	Allerdale borough council
	Borough of Hackney
	St. Edmundsbury borough council
	Shepway district council
	Rother district council
	Leeds city council
	Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
	The National Council for Housing and Planning (ROOM)
	Canterbury city council
	Gateshead metropolitan borough council
	Alan Simpson MP-Nottingham, South
	Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire county council
	London borough of Ealing
	Solihull metropolitan borough council
	Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association
	National HMO Network
	Chartered Institute of Housing
	Mr. N Burn
	Mr. J S McConnell
	Child Accident Prevention Trust
	Association of London Government
	London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
	City of Plymouth
	East Lindsey district council
	Cardiff county council
	Powys county council
	Newport county borough council
	Greater Manchester Private Sector Housing Group
	Manchester city council
	Julia Drown MP
	Shelter
	North Somerset council
	North Hertfordshire district council
	Mrs Jean McAndrew
	Mr. Peter Brackley
	Sefton council
	London borough of Hounslow
	Bristol city council
	Reading borough council
	Trafford metropolitan borough council
	Greater Manchester House in Multiple Occupation Working Group
	Rochdale metropolitan borough council
	Hastings borough council
	Association for Student Residential Accommodation
	Cambridge city council
	Local Government Association
	The Association of Building Engineers
	Small Landlords Association
	Harold Best MP
	Lincoln city council
	Merthyr Tydfil county borough council
	Monmouthshire county council
	Isle of Anglesey county council
	Shelter Cymru
	Pembrokeshire county council
	Blaenau Gwent county borough
	National Union of Students Wales
	Rhondda Cynon Taff
	City and County of Swansea
	Conwy county borough council
	Denbighshire county council
	Gwynedd council
	North Wales Society of Directors of Public Protection
	The Treforest Community Joint Committee
	Residential Landlords Association
	Mr. Ben Prescott

Housing

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to help local authorities to rehouse families on the housing waiting list.

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities are no longer required to hold 'housing waiting lists', and are now required to allocate housing following their published allocation scheme. In November 2002, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister issued a revised Code of Guidance on the Allocation of Accommodation; this encourages local authorities to provide housing applicants with a choice of accommodation in their allocation scheme.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced a major new affordable house building programme worth nearly £3.5 billion over this and next year, and we are allocating £260 million over 2003–04 to 2005–06 to tackle homelessness.

Housing

Clive Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) level of housing basic credit approvals (as included in HIP allocations), (b) volume of reserved capital receipts from Right to Buy, (c) volume of usable capital receipts from Right to Buy and (d) capital receipts used by local authorities for housing investment were for (i) each local authority with a housing revenue account and (ii) England for (A) 1990–91, (B) 2000–01, (C) 2001–02, (D) 2002–03 and (E) 2003–04.

Keith Hill: Information on (a) local authority capital allocations since 1990–91 is available in the Library of the House.
	The information requested at (b) , (c) and (d) , with the exception that no information is available yet for the year 2003–04, has been made available in the Library of the House.

Local Government Finance

Harry Barnes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average council tax increase from 2003–04 to 2004–05 was in shire counties.

Nick Raynsford: The average increase in the Band D council tax in shire county areas between 2003–04 and 2004–05 is 6.2 per cent. This contrasts with an increase of 13.8 per cent. in 2003–04.

Planning/Regeneration

Mike Gapes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on planning and regeneration policy in areas of high population density.

Keith Hill: The needs of high density areas differ greatly depending on local circumstances. Regeneration strategies are best decided locally. Planning can play an important role in high-density areas helping to create well designed and planned sustainable communities.

PRIME MINISTER

EU Constitution

Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement in the House on a referendum on the EU constitution.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to my statement on Europe in the House on 20 April 2004, Official Report, columns 155–57.

Libya

Iris Robinson: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether (a) he raised the issue of the sale and transportation of illegal arms to the Provisional IRA when he recently met with Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and (b) he was given a full inventory of the weapons and explosives which the Provisional IRA received;
	(2)  whether discussions took place with Colonel Gaddafi regarding financial compensation to those injured by, and to the families of those murdered by, illegal weapons transported to the IRA by Libya; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  whether the issue of (a) arms supplies to the IRA by Libya and (b) compensation for victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland arising from arms shipments from Libya to the IRA was raised during his meeting with Colonel Gaddafi.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Antrim (David Burnside) on 1 April 2004, Official Report, column 1569W.

Libya

Iris Robinson: To ask the Prime Minister what details were given by Colonel Gaddafi and the Libyan Government regarding their involvement in the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Antrim (David Burnside) on 1 April 2004, Official Report, column 1569W.
	Following my visit, a Metropolitan Police team visited Tripoli between 3 and 6 April to take forward the investigation into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

TREASURY

Accountancy Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  which (a) chartered accountants and (b) chartered accountancy firms are banned from carrying out work for the Government;
	(2)  which (a) chartered accountancy and (b) chartered accountant firms have had bans lifted since 1997; and what criteria are used to determine whether bans should be (i) imposed and (ii) lifted.

Ruth Kelly: No chartered accountants or firms of chartered accountants are currently formally banned from carrying out work for the Government. However, following the collapse of Barlow Clowes, the two partners of Deloitte and Touche (the auditors) who were censured by the Joint Disciplinary Scheme Committee of Enquiry (an integral part of the accountancy profession's regulatory regime) voluntarily agreed not to put themselves forward for Government work.
	The ban on the employment of Arthur Andersen for Government work was lifted in November 1997 for   reasons explained on 14 November 1997, Official Report, column 695.
	There are no formal criteria for the imposition or lifting of a ban, and each case is viewed on its merits.

Accountancy Services

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and its agencies.

Ruth Kelly: The following information and tables provide the information required in the form in which the Chancellor's Departments and agencies have been able to compile it, without having to incur disproportionate costs.
	
		HM Treasury(1) -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Deloitte Touche 0 91,473 144,628 207,261 
			 Ernst & Young 0 0 1,410 0 
			 KPMG 41,125 0 262,057 5,006 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 462,251 19,892 203,837 8,119 
		
	
	(1) Including DMO.
	
		Office of Government Commerce(2) -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Deloitte & Touche 0 0 — — 
			 Ernst & Young 0 0 — — 
			 KPMG 261,000 85,000 — — 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers — — — — 
		
	
	(2) Including OGC Buying Solutions.
	
		HM Customs & Excise -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Deloitte & Touche 876,061 38,748 — — 
			 Ernst & Young 253,153 215,748 — — 
			 KPMG 214,190 1,237,316 — — 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 243,254 111,356 — — 
		
	
	
		Inland Revenue -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Deloitte & Touche 0 2,115 302,273 48,472 
			 Ernst & Young/Cap Gemini(3) 1,937,237 1,673,971 6,796 70 
			 KPMG 92,500 0 32,261 83,279 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 141,101 190,372 109,680 6,289 
		
	
	(3) Combined expenditure with Ernst Young/Cap Gemini—further breakdown only available at disproportionate cost.
	Inland Revenue (IR) has access to a range of services provided by the specified companies and their affiliated organisations. The expenditure detailed above for the   specified companies was incurred primarily for management services.
	The Valuation Office—Executive Agency of the Inland Revenue
	During the relevant period, the IP's Valuation Office Agency (VOA) incurred expenditure only with KPMG (for business advice on the 2007 council tax revaluation) as follows:
	2002–03: £634,960
	2003–04: £1,034,925
	
		The Royal Mint1 -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Andersen 0 0 — — 
			 Deloitte & Touche 0 0 — — 
			 Ernst & Young 0 0 — — 
			 KPMG 0 0 — — 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 137,000 51,000 — — 
		
	
	(4) Including Audit Work.
	
		Office for National Statistics -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002- 03 2003—04 
		
		
			 Deloitte & Touche 699 15 — — 
			 Ernst & Young 50 0 — — 
			 KPMG 251,876 191,296 — — 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 2,198 0 — — 
		
	
	
		National Savings -- Spend (£)
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Deloitte & Touche 570,000 420,000 — — 
			 Ernst & Young 0 0 — — 
			 KPMG 0 0 — — 
			 PriceWaterhouseCoopers 43,000 0 — —

Labour Statistics

Peter Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many (a) men and (b) women are employed in The Wrekin;
	(2)  how many (a) men and (b) women in The Wrekin are in (i) full and (ii) part-time employment.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Peter Bradley, dated 21 April 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about employment in the Wrekin Parliamentary Constituency. I am replying in his absence. (166720, 166722)
	The table below gives estimates of the number of men and women who are in full and part-time employment in the Wrekin Parliamentary Constituency in the twelve month period ending February 2002, the latest data for which information is available.
	
		Men and women who are in full and part-time employment in the Wrekin parliamentary constituency
		
			  Men Women 
		
		
			 In employment 22,000 19,000 
			 Part-time (5)— 10,000 
			 Full-time 21,000 9,000 
		
	
	(5) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.

Labour Statistics

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many new (a) full-time and (b) part-time jobs were created between 1997 and 2003 in Liverpool, Walton;
	(2)  how many jobs were lost in each year between 1997 and 2003 in Liverpool, Walton.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Peter Kilfoyle dated 21 April 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about full-time and part-time jobs, and number of jobs lost in Liverpool, Walton. (166968,166969)
	While no statistics of new jobs created or of jobs lost are available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, from year to year.
	The attached table shows the number of full-time and part-time employee jobs in Liverpool, Walton Parliamentary Constituency in each year from 1997 to 2002, the latest year for which information is available.
	
		Number of full-time and part-time jobs(6) in Liverpool, Walton(7); 1997–2002
		
			  Number of jobs 
			  Full-time Part-time Total 
		
		
			 1997 13,900 9,900 23,900 
			 1998 15,400 9,700 25,100 
			 1999 14,600 8,400 23,000 
			 2000 17,400 9,700 27,000 
			 2001 19,000 11,800 30,800 
			 2002 21,600 12,900 34,500 
			 Net change 1997 to 2002 +7,700 +3,000 +10,700 
		
	
	Notes:
	(6) Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.
	(7) Parliamentary constituency area.
	Source:
	1997; Annual Employment Survey, rescaled 1998–2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

National Minimum Wage

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many young people aged 16 or 17 he expects will be entitled to the national minimum wage in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the United Kingdom.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Stephen Hepburn, dated 21 April 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about national minimum wage. I am replying in his absence. (166815)Information about entitlement to the national minimum wage is not available.
	However, estimates for the number of employees aged 16 and 17 from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) provide an upper limit for the number of people entitled to the national minimum wage.
	The table below gives estimates of the number of employees aged 16 and 17 in the United Kingdom and in the North East for the three month period ending November 2003. They include a small, but not measured, number of people with a contract of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship schemes who are not entitled to the minimum wage.
	
		Number of employees aged 16 and 17 in the United Kingdom and the North East
		
			  People aged 16 and 17 People aged 16 People aged 17 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 631,000 247,000 384,000 
			 North East 25,000 (8) 16,000 
		
	
	(8) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability and the sample size is too small to provide comparable estimates for the Jarrow parliamentary constituency and the south Tyneside local authority with any reliability.

Census Statistics

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer according to the 2001 Census return, which 10 constituencies had the highest proportion of non-white population; what those proportions were; what proportion of the population indicated English or similar in the ethnicity question in (a) England and (b) each constituency; what proportion of the population lives in a mobile home in (i) England and (ii) each constituency; and what proportion of the population travels to work by other means in (A) England and (B) each constituency.

Paul Boateng: holding answer 22 March 2004
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Turner, dated 21 April 2004
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking which 10 constituencies had the highest proportion of non-white population according to the 2001 Census return; what those proportions were; what proportion of the population indicated English or similar in the ethnicity question in (a) England and (b)  each constituency; what proportion of the population lives in a mobile home in (a) England and (b) each constituency; and what proportion of the population travel to work by other means in (a) England and (b) each constituency. (162763)
	The following ten Parliamentary Constituencies have the highest percentage of non-white ethnic groups in England and Wales. The percentages have been extracted from Table KS06 on the CD supplement to the Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
	
		Parliamentary constituencies with the highest percentage of population in non-white ethnic groups, England and Wales, 2001
		
			  Percentage of population in non-white ethnic groups 
		
		
			 East Ham 66.26 
			 Birmingham, Ladywood 64.89 
			 Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath 64.84 
			 Brent, South 64.58 
			 West Ham 60.20 
			 Brent, North 58.18 
			 Ilford, South 54.85 
			 Ealing, Southall 52.69 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 50.24 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 49.83 
		
	
	Source:
	2001 Census Report for Parliamentary Constituencies.
	People could identify themselves as English in the 2001 Census by writing in such a response under one of the "other" categories on the ethnic group question. The number of people who identified themselves as English in this way in England was 1,064,922.
	People were asked to identify their accommodation type in the 2001 Census. The Census did not identify 'mobile homes' separately but the number of people who identified themselves as living in a 'caravan or other mobile or temporary structure' in England was 142,857. This count has been taken from Table T07 on the CD supplement to the Census 2001 National Report for England and Wales, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
	People were asked to identify the means of travel that they used for the longest part, by distance, of their usual journey to work. The particular means identified were:
	   1. work mainly from home
	   2. use the underground, metro, light rail or tram
	   3. use trains
	   4. use a bus, minibus or coach
	   5. ride a motorcycle, scooter or moped
	   6. drive a car or van
	   7. are a passenger in a car or van
	   8. use a taxi or minicab
	   9. cycle
	10. walk.
	The number of people using a means of transport other than these 10 categories in England was 104,205. This count has been taken from Table SI21 on the CD supplement to the Census 2001 National Report for England and Wales part 2, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
	I have placed in the House of Commons Library three specially commissioned tables (CO168, CO169 and CO170), respectively showing:
	the number of people recording themselves as living in a 'caravan' or other mobile or temporary structure for each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales;
	the number of people who use a means of transport other than those listed above for the longest part of their journey to work, for each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales;
	the number of people who identified themselves as 'English' by writing in this response for each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales.
	Further customised output may be commissioned from ONS, where requirements are not met by the standard results, via the   National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/op15.asp

Child Care

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets have been set for each local authority in England for the number of child care places which will be supported by the child care element in working tax credit for this current financial year.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's aim is to ensure that every parent has access to good quality, affordable child care and to ensure that they are also aware of the availability of financial support for child care costs. The child care element of the working tax credit is available to low and moderate income working parents using eligible child care.
	Data on the number of families benefiting from the child care element are not currently available at the local authority level due to sample size constraints. Across the UK, over 300,000 working families with children are now benefiting from help with child care costs, 67 per cent. more than benefited under the working families' and disabled person's tax credits in November 2002.

Child Care

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets have been set centrally for the number of child care places that will be supported by the child care element of working tax credit in England and Wales for this current financial year.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have no targets for the number of beneficiaries of the child care element of the working tax credit. This help is available to low and moderate income working parents using eligible child care. Under the new tax credits, this help is benefiting over 300,000 families, 67 per cent. higher than the number who benefited under the working families' and disabled person's tax credits in November 2002.
	The Government have set targets to increase the supply of child care. The 2004 Spending Review settlement announced for the Department for Education and Skills as part of Budget 2004 will allow further expansion of child care in England. The Government's aim is to ensure that every parent has access to good quality, affordable child care; and to ensure that they are also aware of the availability of financial support for child care costs.

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group and (iii) age group; and how many are registered disabled.

Ruth Kelly: Data on staffing levels in the Chancellor's Departments and their agencies are collected by the Cabinet Office and published in "Civil Service Statistics". A copy of "Civil Service Statistics, 2002" isavailable in the Library, and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.

Efficiency Gains

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in implementing efficiency gains since his Budget statement.

Paul Boateng: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my   answer to him of 1 April 2004, Official Report, column 1677W.

Gershon Review

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with Sir Peter Gershon regarding the progress of his efficiency review.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor and Treasury officials have had regular discussions with Sir Peter Gershon regarding the progress of the efficiency review.

Gift Aid

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will estimate the amount of gift aid that has gone unclaimed in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much money was claimed in gift aid in each year since 1997.

John Healey: No estimate is available of the amount of extra Gift Aid that charities could have claimed since 1997.
	Amounts of tax repaid to charities on donations under Gift Aid are shown in the following table. Statistics on Gift Aid are published on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/charities/c   t03   l.htm.
	
		£ million
		
			 Year Total By individuals By companies 
		
		
			 1996–97 134 68 66 
			 1997–98 177 96 81 
			 1998–99(9) 306 110 196 
			 1999–2000 208 128 80 
			 2000–01(10) 222 222 (12)— 
			 2001–02 415 415 (12)— 
			 2002–03(11) 506 506 (12)— 
		
	
	(9) Figures for company donations reflect a single exceptionally large donation in 1998–99
	(10) Following the Budget of 2000 company donations are paid gross and do not involve tax repayments and hence are excluded.
	(11) Provisional.
	(12) Not available

Identity Cards

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury has undertaken a study to estimate the cost of any future ID card scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury has been involved in discussions on the benefits and costs of a national ID cards scheme, co-ordinated by the Home Secretary. The   introduction of such a scheme is a long-term undertaking, and the Treasury will continue to be involved with ongoing analysis.

Mutual Organisations

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has conducted of the value derived by members of mutual organisations from the process of demutualisation.

Ruth Kelly: Mutuality is fundamentally about members' rights to say how their organisation is governed. These rights include the right to vote to demutualise the society. It is for members to consider whether demutualisation is in their interests, taking into account the seriousness and irrevocability of the decision.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Buckmore Park Scout Centre

Jonathan R Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance is being provided by Sport England to secure the re-opening of Buckmore Park Scout Centre in the constituency of Chatham and Aylesford.

Richard Caborn: Since the closure of Buckmore Park Scout Centre, Sport England have been actively pursuing options for reopening the centre with interested parties in the area.

Communications Act

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what sums have been agreed between the BBC and Ofcom in respect of the carrying out by Ofcom of its functions in relation to the BBC, under section 198 (4) of the Communications Act 2003 for the financial year 2004–05;
	(2)  what sums have been agreed between Ofcom and (a) the BBC and (b) the S4C Authority in respect of the carrying out by Ofcom of its functions in relation to the Authority under section 207(6) of the Communications Act 2003 for the financial year 2004–05.

Estelle Morris: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to my hon. Friend. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Local Authority Sports/Cultural Facilities

Tony McWalter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what powers she has to prevent local authorities from closing down (a) cultural and (b) sports facilities.

Richard Caborn: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport does not have any powers to prevent local authorities from closing down cultural and sports facilities.
	However, the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 imposes a duty on local authorities that are library authorities to provide a "comprehensive and efficient" public library service, and the national library standards, published by the Secretary of State, help to inform this duty. The Secretary of State has various powers under this Act if a local authority defaults in its duties.
	The Government have also taken action to prevent the loss of playing fields by introducing the Town and Country Planning (Playing Fields) (England) Direction 1998. This provides the Deputy Prime Minister with powers to ensure that communities retain an adequate supply of playing fields to meet both their current and longer term needs. In addition, where development (as defined by the Planning Acts) is proposed on school playing fields covered by section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, both planning permission from the local planning authority and consent from the Secretary of State for Education and Skills will be required.

New Opportunities Fund

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money from the   New Opportunities Fund has been allocated to Liverpool, Walton in each year since 1997.

Estelle Morris: The New Opportunities Fund began making grants in 1999. The awards to Liverpool, Walton are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial Year Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1998–99 — 
			 1999–2000 13,751 
			 2000–01 38,432 
			 2001–02 774,705 
			 2002–03 1,137,366 
			 2003–04 274,644 
			 Total 2,238,898 
		
	
	The information is derived from the Department's Lottery award database, which uses information provided by the Lottery distributors.

New Opportunities Fund

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money from the New Opportunities Fund was allocated to Manchester, Gorton in each year since 1997.

Tessa Jowell: The New Opportunities Fund began making grants in 1999. The awards to Manchester, Gorton are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial Year Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1998–99 — 
			 1999–2000 — 
			 2000–01 238,285 
			 2001–02 5,000 
			 2002–03 78,810 
			 2003–04 192,057 
			 Total 514,152 
		
	
	The information is derived from the Department's Lottery award database, which uses information provided by the Lottery distributors.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Accountancy Services

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and its agencies.

Stephen Twigg: My Department does not hold a central record of the nature of individual agreements (be they contracts, consultancies or other services) nor of their value. However, our financial records show the following total payments made by the Department to   (a) Deloitte and Touche, (b) Ernst and Young, (c) KPMG and (d) PricewaterhouseCoopers in financial years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 to date (i.e. excluding any subsequent prior year adjustments).
	
		£
		
			 Organisation 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 To date 
		
		
			 Deloitte and Touche 275,594 201,670 249,007 
			 Ernst and Young 0 38,449 0 
			 KPMG 396,353 1,014,559 1,870,513 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 5,349,686 3,847,542 3,803,767 
		
	
	Information about spend by the Department's Non Departmental Public Bodies could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Adult Education (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what public funding has been spent on adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Birkenhead in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The estimated total spend on Skills For Life (the Government's strategy for literacy, language and numeracy needs of all post-16 learners from pre-entry level up to and including level 2) and on   Key Skills (essential skills of communication, application of number and information technology), from April 2001 to July 2003, in the Greater Merseyside Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is set out in the table below:
	
		(£000)
		
			 April 2001 to July 2001 1 August 2001 to July 2002 August 2002 to July 2003 
			 Basic skills Key skills Basic skills Key skills Basic skills Key skills 
		
		
			 3,803 1,094 6,575 1,564 10,677 1,755 
		
	
	(13) The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from August 2000 on learning aims continuing into April 2001.
	From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at constituency level or   separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before April 2001 when the Skills for Life strategy was launched and the LSC was formed, but information shows it was considerably less than at present.

Advanced Vocational Certificate

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the   future of the advanced vocational certificate of education.

David Miliband: The specifications for the Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education are currently being revised in order that, from September 2005, they will follow the same AS/A2 format as the GCE. Their longer-term future is being considered by the Working Group on 14–19 Reform, whose final report is due in the autumn.

Apprenticeships (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many residents of Birkenhead have undertaken apprenticeships in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available at parliamentary constituency level. Nor is the information available for a consistent geographical area over the last five years. However, the following table shows the number of starts on apprenticeships (formerly known as Advanced Modern Apprenticeships) and apprenticeships at level two (formerly known as Foundation Modern Apprenticeships) in Greater Merseyside Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area between April 2001 and the end of July 2003, as well as the number of starts from April 98 to March 2001 in the four TECs that amalgamated to become Greater Merseyside LSC.
	
		
			 Time period TEC/LSC Apprenticeships Apprenticeships at level 2 
		
		
			 April 1998 to March 1999 CEWTEC (14) 1,400 300 
			  Merseyside 2,400 1,200 
			  St. Helens CCTE 300 100 
			  North and Mid Cheshire (14) 1,200 200 
			 April 1999 to March 2000 CEWTEC (14) 1,000 900 
			  Merseyside 2,600 3,500 
			  St. Helens CCTE 300 400 
			  North and Mid Cheshire(14) 900 500 
			 April 2000 to March 2001 CEWTEC(14) 1,100 1,300 
			  Merseyside 2,500 4,100 
			  St. Helens CCTE 300 500 
			  North and Mid Cheshire(14) 1000 900 
			 April 2001 to July 2002 Greater Merseyside LSC 2,600 7,100 
			 March 2001 to July 2002 Greater Merseyside LSC 2,000 6,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	(14) TEC also became part of Cheshire and Warrington LSC
	Source:
	TEC management information.
	LSC Individualised Learner Record.

Computer Provision (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in Birkenhead have received a computer to assist in seeking employment or retraining.

Ivan Lewis: At present no centrally funded DfES schemes exist which enable people to acquire free or low price recycled computers.

School Budgets (Devon)

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school budgets in Devon Local Education Authority were in deficit in each of the last seven years.

David Miliband: The information requested is not available for the last seven years. However, the number of schools in budget deficit for the last four years is shown in the following table:
	
		Numbers of Devon schools with a deficit budget in each of the last four years
		
			  Number of schools 
		
		
			 1999–2000 71 
			 2000–2001 48 
			 2001–2002 33 
			 2002–2003 27 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data are as reported by Devon LEA as at 30 March 2004 and taken from their section 52 outturn statements submitted to the DfES.
	2. 2002–03 data are subject to changes by the LEA which may alter the results for that period.
	3. For 1999–00 to 2001–02 the data are taken from the Balance Carried Forward column. In 2002–03 data come from Other Revenue Balance.
	4. Section 52 data are available from 1999–00. Prior to then the ODPM's R01 statement provides information but not at school level.

School Budgets (North Tyneside)

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school budgets in North Tyneside local education authority were in deficit in each of the last 10 years.

David Miliband: The information requested is not available for the last 10 years. However, the number of schools in budget deficit in North Tyneside LEA for the last four years is shown in the following table:
	
		Numbers of North Tyneside schools with a deficit budget in each of the last four years
		
			  Number of schools 
		
		
			 1999–2000 21 
			 2000–01 20 
			 2001–02 18 
			 2002–03 32 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data are as reported by North Tyneside LEA as at 29 March 2004 and taken from their 2002–03 section 52 outturn statement submitted to the DfES.
	2. The 2002–03 data is subject to changes by the LEA which may alter the results for that period.
	3. For 1999–00 to 2001–02 the data are taken from the Balance Carried Forward column. In 2002–03 data comes from Other Revenue Balance column.
	4. Section 52 data is available from 1999–00. Prior to then the ODPM's R01 statement provides information but not at school level.

School Transport (North Tyneside)

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost of home to school transport in North Tyneside local education authority was in each of the last five years.

David Miliband: The information requested is contained within the following table:
	
		Cost of home to school transport in each of the last five years
		
			  (£000) 
		
		
			 1997–1998 950 
			 1998–1999 985 
			 1999–2000 1045 
			 2000–2001 1125 
			 2001–2002 1246 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The financial data are taken from North Tyneside LEA's Section 52 Outturn Statement submitted to the DfES from 1999–2000 onwards and the ODPM's R01 statement prior to then.
	2. Figures are in £000s.
	3. Total transport expenditure and parental contributions includes that incurred in relation to pre-primary, primary, secondary and special school education as well as in education out of school, continuing education and the management and support elements.

Europass Scheme

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2004, Official Report, column 1395W, on the Europass Scheme, what steps will be taken to participate in the Europass initiative; and what the timescale is for each stage of the process.

Alan Johnson: The UK is already participating fully in the current implementation of Europass Training, set up under Council Decision 1999/51/EC of 21 December 1998 on the promotion of European pathways in work-linked training, including apprenticeship.
	If the current proposals for the new Europass Programme are adopted by co-decision of the European Parliament and Council of Ministers this year, it is expected that the initiative will begin on 1 January 2005. We will appoint a National Europass Centre to coordinate Europass activities within the UK. We expect the National Centre to be in place for the start of the Programme.

Free Pre-school Places

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) free nursery and (b) pre-school places were available for (i) three and (ii) four year olds in Chorley in each of the last seven years.

Margaret Hodge: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Figures on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four year olds in Lancashire local education authority area are shown in the table.
	
		Number of free nursery education places1, 2 taken up by three and four year old children in maintained nursery and primary schools and private, voluntary and independent providers Lancashire Local Education Authority area1997–2003 -- Position in January each year
		
			 Year 3 year olds 4 year olds 
		
		
			 1997 4,400 12,400 
			 1998 4,400 13,500 
			 1999 4,400 16,000 
			 2000 4,300 15,900 
			 2001 9,400 15,700 
			 2002 9,400 13,000 
			 2003 10,100 12,600 
		
	
	(15) Part-time equivalent number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four year old children.
	(16) A free nursery education place comprises five two and a half hour sessions of early years education per week, for thirty-three weeks of the year, usually three terms of eleven weeks.
	The latest figures on provision for three and four year olds in England were published in a Statistical Bulletin 'Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2003' which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
	Since 1 April 2004, six months ahead of our original target, all three year olds in England whose parents want one, will have access to a free, part-time early education place.

ICT Training (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many women in Birkenhead have visited an information and communications technology training centre in order to learn skills to return to work.

Ivan Lewis: Birkenhead is served by both UK online centres and learndirect provisions.
	An estimated 226 women use UK online centres in Birkenhead each quarter. This information is calculated from UK online quarterly management information (quarter ending Dec 03) which shows that, on average, each UK online centre has 101 users and that 56 per cent. of UK online users are female.
	To date, 493 women living in Birkenhead (postal districts CH41 and 42) have visited a learndirect centre.

Modern Apprenticeships Task Force

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to receive a report from the Modern Apprenticeships Task Force.

Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State and I are kept regularly informed of progress in the work of the Task Force. However, Sir Roy Gardner the chair of the Task Force intends to submit the group's Interim Report in Autumn 2004. The report will be sent, in the first instance, to the Task Force joint sponsors: the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and the Chair of the Learning and Skills Council, and published shortly afterwards. In the meantime information on the work of the group is available on the Task Force's website www.employersforapprentices. gov.uk.

Teachers (North Somerset)

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pupil to teacher ratio was for the North Somerset Local Education Authority for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 1997.

David Miliband: The data requested are shown in the following table.
	
		Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools(17): Pupil: Teacher Ratios(18)—North Somerset Local Education Authority
		
			 Position at January Pupil: Teacher ratios(18) 
			 each year: 1997 to 2003 Primary schools Secondary schools 
		
		
			 1997 23.8 16.0 
			 1908 24.2 17.1 
			 1999 24.4 17.0 
			 2000 24.2 17.3 
			 2001 24.0 17.6 
			 2002 23.7 17.2 
			 2003 23.9 17.2 
		
	
	Notes:
	(17) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(18) The pupil:teacher ratio within schools is the ratio of all pupils on the schools registers (counting each part-time pupil as 0.5) to all qualified teachers (including the full-time equivalent of part-time teachers).
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census.

Recruitment

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost of recruitment of civil servants for the Department was in each financial year since 1996–97, broken down by (a) delegated orcontracted out recruitment procedures and (b) recruitment procedures carried out by the Department.

Charles Clarke: The Department was established in June 2001. Information is available for the first full financial year of 2002/03. The figures below include Senior Civil Service recruitment.
	
		(£000)
		
			   Year Cost of delegated or contracted out recruitment Cost of recruitment procedures carried out by the Department 
		
		
			 2002/03 916,602.71 76,046.52

Targeted Capital Funds

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much in targeted capital funds for schools was allocated to each English region in the last year for which figures are available.

David Miliband: The following table shows the value of new projects to be supported from the Targeted Capital Fund in 2004–05 for each Government Office Region.
	
		
			  Government Office Region Targeted Capital Funding for 2004–05 
		
		
			 East Office Region 24,772,307 
			 East of England 28,046,121 
			 London 50,260,995 
			 North East 5,888,356 
			 North West 30,824,502 
			 South East 26,452,007 
			 South West 43,143,376 
			 West Midlands 21,994,219 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 28,223,284

Targeted Capital Funds

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much in targeted capital funds was given to (a) faith schools, (b) non-faith schools, (c) faith schools with a comprehensive intake, (d) non-faith schools with a comprehensive intake, (e) Church of England schools, (f) Roman Catholic schools, (g) grammar schools and (h) Roman Catholic grammar schools in the last year for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: We do not hold information in the form requested. Targeted Capital Fund(TCF) projects sometimes cover more than one school and we do not ask bids to break down costs for each school. Both local education authority (LEA) and Voluntary Aided (VA) bids can contain a mixture of schools with or without a religious character and with different admission policies. It is therefore not possible to break down allocations between the various categories requested.
	For the 2004–05 round of TCF we have supported 68 LEA projects totalling £186 million at 61 LEAs, and £74 million of support for 23 VA projects at 21 LEAs.

Teachers (Greater London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants there were in each local education authority in Greater London in each of the last seven years.

David Miliband: holding answer 19 April 2004
	The following table gives the numbers of full time equivalent regular teachers and teaching assistants employed in maintained schools in the Greater London area broken down by local education authority for each year between 1997 and 2003.
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 City of London
			 Teachers 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 
			 Teaching assistants — — — — — — 10 
			 
			 Camden
			 Teachers 1,500 1,480 1,440 1,340 1,430 1,570 1,450 
			 Teaching assistants 200 240 250 300 360 440 470 
			 Greenwich
			 Teachers 2,070 2,010 2,030 2,040 2,030 2,080 2,140 
			 Teaching assistants 360 400 430 510 650 650 730 
			 
			 Hackney
			 Teachers 1,450 1,490 1,520 1,510 1,480 1,470 1,600 
			 Teaching assistants 210 250 290 380 420 490 530 
			
			 Hammersmith and Fulham   
			 Teachers 930 920 930 1,000 1,000 1,010 1,060 
			 Teaching assistants 190 200 210 250 240 260 300 
			 
			 Islington
			 Teachers 1,420 1,410 1,330 1,350 1,300 1,460 1,380 
			 Teaching assistants 250 250 270 350 360 350 480 
			 
			 Kensington and Chelsea   
			 Teachers 680 670 680 650 660 670 720 
			 Teaching assistants 130 140 140 170 210 220 260 
			 
			 Lambeth
			 Teachers 1,710 1,700 1,660 1,620 1,580 1,670 1,620 
			 Teaching assistants 300 350 390 500 560 580 640 
			 
			 Lewisham
			 Teachers 1,870 1,870 1,810 1,890 1,980 2,070 2,040 
			 Teaching assistants 280 290 320 410 570 470 560 
			 
			 Southwark
			 Teachers 1,750 1,800 1,850 1,840 1,960 2,060 2,090 
			 Teaching assistants 350 420 430 650 810 750 710 
			 
			 Tower Hamlets
			 Teachers 2,270 2,170 2,310 2,250 2,180 2,220 2,310 
			 Teaching assistants 370 400 450 510 800 970 950 
			 
			 Wandsworth
			 Teachers 1,690 1,680 1,700 1,680 1,730 1,770 1,750 
			 Teaching assistants 330 370 370 460 470 380 530 
			 
			 Westminster
			 Teachers 1,140 1,160 1,160 1,190 1,250 1,300 1,320 
			 Teaching assistants 150 170 160 190 190 310 280 
			 
			 Barking and Dagenham   
			 Teachers 1,450 1,420 1,450 1,470 1,480 1,510 1,570 
			 Teaching assistants 300 290 310 320 400 500 510 
			 
			 Barnet
			 Teachers 2,770 2,730 2,720 2,710 2,740 2,820 2,850 
			 Teaching assistants 290 340 400 480 550 740 720 
			 
			 Bexley
			 Teachers 1,860 1,870 1,940 1,920 2,030 2,160 2,090 
			 Teaching assistants 200 230 280 310 380 320 560 
			 
			 Brent
			 Teachers 2,160 2,190 2,160 2,100 2,110 2,160 2,380 
			 Teaching assistants 260 300 360 390 440 450 470 
			 
			 Bromley
			 Teachers 2,270 2,330 2,340 2,340 2,540 2,640 2,590 
			 Teaching assistants 210 230 230 270 360 440 500 
			 
			 Croydon
			 Teachers 2,620 2,640 2,590 2,880 2,820 2,860 2,880 
			 Teaching assistants 400 410 510 530 660 630 870 
			 
			 Ealing
			 Teachers 2,230 2,220 2,250 2,240 2,220 2,320 2,310 
			 Teaching assistants 340 360 370 400 510 450 530 
			 
			 Enfield
			 Teachers 2,550 2,610 2,650 2,740 2,670 2,670 2,820 
			 Teaching assistants 250 290 290 500 590 810 880 
			 Haringey
			 Teachers 1,870 1,830 1,860 1,850 1,850 1,890 1,910 
			 Teaching assistants 350 360 380 420 490 650 680 
			 
			 Harrow
			 Teachers 1,580 1,500 1,490 1,380 1,490 1,500 1,550 
			 Teaching assistants 270 270 290 300 300 330 430 
			 
			 Havering
			 Teachers 1,870 1,870 1,900 1,890 1,950 2,040 2,060 
			 Teaching assistants 170 170 200 260 300 310 520 
			 
			 Hillingdon
			 Teachers 2,000 2,030 2,030 2,130 2,180 2,230 2,230 
			 Teaching assistants 300 340 380 420 510 520 590 
			 
			 Hounslow
			 Teachers 2,000 1,940 1,980 1,950 2,020 2,010 2,010 
			 Teaching assistants 280 280 290 330 380 400 400 
			 
			 Kingston upon Thames   
			 Teachers 1,060 1,050 1,040 1,060 1,070 1,070 1,170 
			 Teaching assistants 130 130 150 170 220 220 250 
			 
			 Merton
			 Teachers 1,210 1,170 1,190 1,150 1,210 1,210 1,240 
			 Teaching assistants 190 200 220 240 290 250 300 
			 
			 Newham
			 Teachers 2,190 2,200 2,290 2,350 2,420 2,520 2,570 
			 Teaching assistants 280 280 390 500 960 720 1,070 
			 
			 Redbridge
			 Teachers 2,100 2,130 2,180 2,200 2,370 2,380 2,470 
			 Teaching assistants 190 230 270 370 450 580 620 
			 
			 Richmond upon Thames   
			 Teachers 1,070 1,070 1,060 1,030 1,040 1,090 1,100 
			 Teaching assistants 100 110 110 130 160 210 220 
			 
			 Sutton
			 Teachers 1,390 1,420 1,450 1,480 1,530 1,590 1,710 
			 Teaching assistants 160 170 210 230 260 340 310 
			 
			 Waltham Forest
			 Teachers 2,010 2,080 2,090 2,060 1,940 2,020 1,940 
			 Teaching assistants 380 400 410 470 490 610 640 
			 
			 Greater London
			 Teachers 56,800 56,700 57,100 57,300 58,300 60,100 60,900 
			 Teaching assistants 8,160 8,870 9,790 11,740 14,330 15,340 17,510 
		
	
	Source:
	Annual School Census (teaching assistants) and the Annual Survey of Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies.

Vocational A-levels

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on Ofsted's Report on Vocational A Levels: the first two years.

David Miliband: My Department and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority are considering the OFSTED report on vocational A levels. Vocational A levels are already being redeveloped so that from 2005 they will have the same AS/A2 structure as the GCE. We shall continue to make improvements to ensure that vocational A levels provide the best possible learning experience for students.

DEFENCE

Army Medal Office

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Army Medal Office in Droitwich Spa.

Ivor Caplin: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made to the House on 20 April 2004, Official Report, column 11WS.

Army Recruitment

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a list of the traditional geographic areas of recruitment to the different Army regiments; and what the estimated population of each such recruitment area is.

Ivor Caplin: Yes. I will place in the Library the list requested and expect to do so by the end of this month.

Climate Change

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the potential links between climate change and national security are considered when defence procurement decisions are taken; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is in the process of reviewing the implications of climate change for defence procurement policies and several case studies of major procurement projects are being considered.

Falkland Islands

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels were present in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands when the Almirante Irizar sailed through (a) the Falklands outer conservation zone and (b) Falklands interim conservation zone.

Adam Ingram: HMS Glasgow, RFA Gold Rover and FIMS Leeds Castle were present in the water surrounding the Falkland Islands when the Almirante Irizar sailed through the Falkland Islands Outer Conservation Zone and the Falkland Islands Interim Conservation Zone.

Home Front Recall Scheme

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the money earmarked for the Home Front Recall Scheme he intends to retain for major national projects and services; and if he will list the national projects and services which will benefit from the retained funds.

Estelle Morris: I have been asked to reply.
	Home Front Recall is part of a special lottery programme called Veterans Reunited. It is funded by   three National Lottery Distributors—the New Opportunities Fund, the Community Fund, and the Heritage Lottery Fund—and it will be a matter for them to decide how best to use the funding and make decisions on which projects to approve.
	There will be funding for both local and national projects within the Home Front Recall scheme, but there is no fixed allocation for each type of project. The scheme was launched in April 2004 and so, at this point, no decisions have been made on either local or national grant applications. The total budget available across the UK is £7.3 million.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to (a) post warnings on and (b) seal tanks and armoured personnel carriers destroyed by depleted uranium weapons in southern Iraq.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 537W to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith).

Iraq

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the total cost to his Department of military operations in Iraq since September 2002.

Adam Ingram: Information on the cost of operations in Iraq in 2002–03 was published as part of the Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts (page 135). Total operating and capital expenditure during this period amounted to £847 million. It is too early to give a definitive figure for costs in 2003–04, but total funding voted at Spring Supplementary Estimates for operations in Iraq amounted to £1.5 billion.

Riot Control Equipment

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence   whether British forces in (a) Iraq and (b) Kosovo are fully equipped with essential riot control equipment.

Adam Ingram: British forces in both Iraq and Kosovo are fully equipped to undertake those Crowd and Riot Control (CRC) duties assigned to them.

US/UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a record is kept of how many days have been expended by AWE staff under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement.

Adam Ingram: No.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Debt Recovery

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) attachment of earnings, (b) charging orders, (c) third party debt orders, (d) judgment summons and (e) warrants of execution were issued in each year since 1997; what the total debt was that each enforcement method was to recover; and what the success rates in terms of debt recovery were for each enforcement method.

Christopher Leslie: Figures relating to the first part of the question are provided in the following table. Information relating to the amount and success rates of the enforcement methods is not available centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Attachment of earnings orders Charging orders Third party debt orders Judgement summons issued Warrants of execution issued 
		
		
			 1997 65,669 11,602 4,048 5,234 622,408 
			 1998 43,440 10,852 3,646 5,688 543,848 
			 1999 34,399 9,820 3,357 5,709 538,337 
			 2000 35,545 10,636 3,174 5,687 470,270 
			 2001 42,011 15,900 4,139 3,640 394,611 
			 2002 39,855 21,447 5,499 139 372,505 
			 2003 40,384 25,054 6,019 116 355,476

Debt Recovery

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  in how many county court judgments liability orders have been made for the payment of council tax by an enforcement agent where no levy is made in each year since 1997;
	(2)  in how many county court judgments liability orders for levying distress have been made for the payment of council tax where the sum is £100 or less in each year since 1997;
	(3)  in how many county court judgments walking possession orders have been made for the payment of council tax in each year since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: Non-payment of council tax is dealt with in each local authority area by the magistrates courts and not the county courts. The information requested and level of detail is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Abandoned Vehicles

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of Operation Scrap It in (a) London and (b) Liverpool.

Hazel Blears: Operation Scrap It aims to ensure that all vehicles confirmed as untaxed or abandoned will be removed within 72 hours of reporting by October this year. The authorities concerned are putting systems in place to deliver this and I am confident that the target will be met.
	To remove any excuse for dumping cars, I launched a free take back service across London on 8 March.

"Reducing Crime—Changing Lives"

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a 12 week consultation period took place before the publication of the document Reducing Crime—Changing Lives, in line with the Cabinet Office code of practice on written consultations.

Paul Goggins: The Government published its proposals for the reform of correctional services in its paper Reducing Crime—Changes Lives. In that paper the Home Secretary set out the initial views of the Government to Patrick Carter's Report and sought the views of stakeholders on a number of issues.
	The reform of correctional services and the creation of the National Offender Management Service is a significant undertaking. There is no suggestion that the entire reform will be carried out after a single consultation exercise of 12 weeks or otherwise. The questions for stakeholders posed in Reducing Crimes—Changing Lives represents a beginning of the consultation process. I have already undertaken to ensure that consultation is ongoing with staff and stakeholders over the period of up to five years we expect full roll out of the new service will take.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new guidelines on anti-social behaviour issued to magistrates.

Hazel Blears: The Magistrates Association Sentencing Guidelines, effective from 1 January 2004, dealt specifically with the offence of 'Breach of Anti-Social Behaviour Order' for the first time. The Guidance stated that the starting point should be a custodial sentence and offered a number of aggravating features, such as the recent date of the order breached, the continuation of the pattern of behaviour which the order sought to prohibit, and the use of violence and threats of intimidation.
	As the guidelines were only introduced on 1 January, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of this work, and at this stage too early for anecdotal comment.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Trailblazer nuisance neighbour projects in (a) Birmingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Sheffield and (d) Sunderland.

Hazel Blears: The Government's National Action Plan,   'TOGETHER, Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour' launched last October announced that we will establish 'trailblazers' in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Sunderland to develop excellence in tackling nuisance families. This will ensure that in these areas nuisance neighbours are not left without an effective intervention and, where necessary, a sanction.
	Each of the trailblazer areas have estimated a minimum, number of such households that will be targeted for action by March 2005, and each of them are well placed to meet and probably exceed those estimates. It is, however, early days, in terms of evaluating the success of this work. Surveys measuring the perception of antisocial behaviour by members of the public in those trailblazer areas are currently underway and will provide on-going comparisons with the national picture. Specific learning from the approaches being pursed by the nuisance neighbour trailblazers, and indeed from the national neighbour nuisance neighbour panel, will be disseminated via our TOGETHER Academy, TOGETHER ActionLine and TOGETHER website (training, telephone advice, and practical information for front line agencies on tackling antisocial behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take against those areas that have not taken up anti-social behaviour orders.

Hazel Blears: Anti-social behaviour orders are not the only tool available to tackle anti-social behaviour. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act provides a wide range of tools to tackle antisocial behaviour. All areas should take swift action to deal with antisocial behaviour and other available interventions should also be considered such as injunctions, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and other tenancy related interventions.
	The TOGETHER campaign will ensure that agencies on the ground are using the measures that are already in place, and those new measures introduced by the Act as effectively as possible. The campaign will help improve the response to tackling antisocial behaviour by placing the focus within the heart of our communities and providing them with the opportunity to work together and the tools to take action to tackle antisocial behaviour. The TOGETHER Academy, ActionLine and website all provide advice and information to encourage and enable local practitioners to take action against antisocial behaviour.

Bank Automated Clearing System

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) is an automated payments service provided by BACS Ltd. This provides the standard route for electronic funds transmission used across the UK. BACSTEL-IP is the platform for the future of automated payments. It is based on internet protocols and uses the latest Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technologies for heightened levels of security.
	Home Office met with Bottomline Technologies, our supplier, and Sirius, our IT partner, in November 2003 to discuss the implementation of the new BACSTEL-IP system. The meeting concluded that as the last date for switching to BACSTEL-IP is December 2005, the partnership should firstly concentrate on the migration from BASS, the current Home Office accounting system, to the new system, Adelphi, using the existing BACSTEL system. A further meeting will take place between all parties in the autumn of 2004 to discuss the switch to the new BACSTEL-IP system planned for the early part of 2005.

Class A Drugs

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions a Merseyside senior police officer has issued a closure notice on premises they had reason to believe were being used for the production, supply or use of Class A drugs and causing serious nuisance or disturbance in the last four months.

Hazel Blears: As of 14 April 2003 the new power to close premises as contained in section 1(11) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 had been used once in the Merseyside Police Force area. As this power was enacted on the 20 January this year, more closures can be expected in the near future in line with operational needs.
	The closure notice was issued by a senior police officer in the St. Helens and Wigan Basic Command Unit against a premises with a history of being subject to police action on suspicion of the supply of class A drugs and of great concern to the local community. The case is ongoing.

Departmental Officials

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG.

Fiona Mactaggart: The figures showing applications submitted to join the following companies, so far as information is available in the form requested, are as follows:
	
		
			 Company 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers — — 1 — 
			 Deloitte & Touche 1 — — — 
			 Ernst and Young 2 — — — 
			 KPMG — — — — 
		
	
	— = no comprehensive figures available.

Departmental Officials

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what secondments (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG have made to his Department since 2001; for what (i) periods and (ii)   tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from his Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B)   tasks.

Fiona Mactaggart: Secondments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations—public, private and voluntary. Interchange provides opportunities for civil servants to learn new skills, widen their experience and develop ideas. It also brings in skills and experiences from other sectors.
	Secondments of less than three months duration are not recorded. Since 2001, there have been secondments for periods of over three months to the organisations in question as follows:
	PricewaterhouseCoopers: none.
	Deloitte & Touche: one inward secondment for the period September 2003-March 2004. The secondee is managing delivery risks on the Identity Cards Programme.
	Ernst & Young: There have been two inward secondments:
	1. June 2003-June 2004: the secondee is working as senior analyst on criminal injuries compensation policy.
	2. September 2003-September 2004: the secondee is working on public perceptions of policing policy.
	KPMG: one outward secondment for the period November 2002-April 2004. The member of Home Office staff is working on occupational psychology in the field of recruitment.

Merseyside Police

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions Merseyside Police has arrested an individual for carrying an air weapon or imitation firearm in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse since the inception of this power.

Hazel Blears: Information on arrests collected centrally is based on persons arrested for "notifiable" offences by main offence group and police force area only. The information does not identify individual offences.

National Offender Management Service

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish a Gateway Zero Report in respect of the National Offender Management Service in accordance with Office of Government Commerce procedures.

Paul Goggins: The implementation of the National Offender Management Service is subject to the Gateway reporting process. In keeping with normal practice, it is not intended to publish the gateway Zero Report.

Police

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police forces in England and Wales who have spent money on radio advertising in each of the past five years for which figures are available; and if he will give the reasons for such expenditure in each case.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 19 April 2004
	The Home Office has run central radio recruitment campaigns, but any money spent on advertising by individual forces is allocated by individual forces themselves, so the Home Office would not hold this information.

Police

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason police forces including Thames Valley Police are investing in separate mobile data systems running on public access bearer networks to deliver data services alongside the airwave system.

Hazel Blears: Airwave has the capacity to deliver voice and data services simultaneously. The voice network is now nearly complete and implementation of national mobile data applications such as access on the move to the Police National Computer is underway. A number forces are exploring alternative mobile data options to meet specific local requirements.

Prisons

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for the   operating loss arising from Contract Services workshops in prisons.

Paul Goggins: It is not realistic for Contract Services workshop activities to break even. To cover all costs, including staffing would involve making charges that the market would be unlikely to bear.
	Contract Services workshops employ some 4,000 prisoners. The difference between income received and the full cost of running contract services workshops represents the investment made in providing purposeful activity for large numbers of prisoners. Contract Services activities account for some 5,000,000 hours of purposeful activity a year.

Prisons (Alcohol Testing) Act

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many authorisations have been made under the Prisons (Alcohol Testing) Act 1997; and how many tests have been carried out.

Paul Goggins: Section 16B of the Prisons Act 1952, (which was inserted by the Prisons (Alcohol Testing) Act 1997) empowers a prison officer, in accordance with prison rules, to request a prisoner to provide a breath sample for the purpose of alcohol testing, in those prisons in which the Governor has authorised such action.
	Amendments are to be made to prison rules shortly toprovide appropriate disciplinary offences. No authorisations have yet been made under section 16B, and therefore no tests under this power have been carried out.

Public Bodies

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) resource budget, (b) administration costs and (c) staff numbers were for 2003 of the (i) Community Development Foundation, (ii) Advisory Board on Restricted Patients, (iii) Poisons Board, (iv) Technical Advisory Board, (v) Insurance Cover Working Group, (vi) Ministerial Advisory Group on Retail Crime, (vii) Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team and (viii) Review of the Law Relating to Bribery and Corruption.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Community Development Foundation (CDF) is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and, for the financial year 2003–04, had:
	an estimated resource budget of £902,000;
	estimated administrative costs of £755,000; and
	average staff numbers of 46.7 full-time equivalents.
	Advisory NDPBs do not have a resource budget. Their secretariat and administration costs are borne by the Department. Members of the Board are public appointees and are remunerated accordingly.
	The Advisory Board for Restricted Patients has not met since 2001;
	The Poisons Board has not met for the last 12 years; and
	The Technical Advisory Board has no resource budget. The Home Office provides secretariat and administrative support. The Board consists of 13 members including a Chairman. All Board members are public appointees and work on a part-time basis. The Chairman's remuneration is £400 per day plus expenses and other members receive expenses only.
	Ad hoc advisory groups and reviews are essentially Home Office working groups. They do not have a resource budget or permanent staff.
	The Insurance Cover Working Group (ICWG) is a Home Office working group, which meets three times a year. During the Financial Year 2003–04, the ICWG incurred an estimated administration cost of £1,206.
	The Ministerial Advisory Group on Retail Crime is no longer operating and did not meet during the Financial Year 2003–04.
	The Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team (VCRAT) meets three times a year and, for the Financial Year 2003–04, incurred an estimated administration cost of £5,113.
	The Review of the Law Relating to Bribery and Corruption has not met since June 2000.

Register of Interests

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the requirements are on officials in his Department to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for his departmental officials.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Civil Service Management Code sets out the requirement for civil servants declaring any conflict of interest. The Home Office monitor declarations of interest annually, by written request. Replies are then kept in a register. All new senior staff are made aware on appointment of their duty to declare any conflicts of interest.

Sentencing (Magistrates Courts)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given to magistrates courts about sentencing in respect of (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) youth street crime; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Government recognise that breach of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) is a serious offence and should be treated as such by the court. We are aware that there have been some problems relating to inconsistent sentences for breach of ASBOs and this is something we are continuing to work on. In January 2004 the Magistrates Association for the first time produced sentencing guidelines for the offence of a breach of an ASBO which recognise the seriousness of the offence and direct the court to consider the impact of the offence on victims. The guideline is: "Is it so serious that only custody is appropriate?"
	The Anti-Social Behaviour Unit will continue to work with the relevant Government Departments and with local practitioners, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to improve consistency in the courts' response to antisocial behaviour. Part of this is to ensure that in every case the courts have the right information available on which to base their decisions, including understanding the effect of anti-social behaviour on victims, witnesses and the wider community.
	The Magistrates Association has issued sentencing guidelines to the magistrates courts, which cover the range of criminal offences dealt with by those courts. The Sentencing Guidelines Council, which was established by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, will in future set sentencing guidelines for the range of criminal offences, covering all criminal courts.
	2 Cr App R (S) 274.

Sexual Assault Referral Centres

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the results of his Department's review of sexual assault referral centres will be published.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 23 March 2004
	We are now expecting this research to be published in the summer.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Iraq

David Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to offer guarantees to British companies working in the reconstruction of Iraq with regard to the safety of their (a) employees and (b) assets.

Stephen Timms: We do not offer guarantees to British companies regarding the safety of employees and company assets while working in Iraq. British companies considering sending staff to Iraq are advised to consult the current travel advice, published on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, www.fco. gov.uk, which advises against all but the most essential travel to Iraq and that even the most essential travel to Iraq should be delayed, if possible. Companies with planned involvement in reconstruction projects are also advised to contact the Iraq Unit in UK Trade and Investment for further information.
	We do not provide general advice and information on a range of issues to British companies wanting to assist in the reconstruction process in Iraq but it is for the companies themselves to assess the risks and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their employees and assets.

ACAS

Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost to public funds is of the current national advertising campaign by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to encourage greater use of its services; and what the total expenditure of ACAS on all publicity and advertising will be in financial year 2003–04.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The cost to public funds of the current advertising campaign by ACAS is £1,258,900. The total expenditure of ACAS on all publicity and advertising for the financial year 2003–04 was £1,981,000.

Bankruptcy

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the proportion of personal bankruptcies that involve owners of businesses.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The table as follows shows the number of bankruptcies broken down by self-employed and other individuals along with related percentages. This shows that over the period the number of bankruptcies involving owners of businesses has fallen, the increase in total bankruptcies being driven by bankruptcies of other individuals. The proportion of self-employed bankruptcies has fallen from 61 per cent. in 1995 to 36 per cent. in 2002.
	
		Bankrupticies: Self-employed and other individuals from 1995 to 2002
		
			  Self-employed Other individuals Total bankruptcies Per cent. self employed Per cent. other individuals 
		
		
			 1995 13,282 8,651 21,933 61 39 
			 1996 12,667 9,136 21,803 58 42 
			 1997 11,269 8,623 19,892 57 43 
			 1998 10,420 9,227 19,647 53 47 
			 1999 10,723 10,888 21,611 50 50 
			 2000 9,952 11,598 21,550 46 54 
			 2001 9,839 13,638 23,477 42 58 
			 2002 8,854 15,438 24,292 36 64

Bankruptcy

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bankruptcies there were in Liverpool, Walton in each year between 1997 and 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Bankruptcy figures are only available on the basis of the Official Receivers Office dealing with the cases, therefore it is not possible to separate bankruptcies pertaining to Liverpool, Walton. The following table gives annual figures for the number of individual bankruptcies dealt with by the Official Receivers Office in Liverpool, which covers the county courts of Birkenhead, Liverpool, St. Helens, Southport and the Wirral.
	
		Bankruptcies registered at the Official Receivers Office in Liverpool 1997–2003
		
			 Official Receivers Office Liverpool 
		
		
			 1997 414 
			 1998 416 
			 1999 525 
			 2000 563 
			 2001 696 
			 2002 747 
			 2003 820

Business Start-ups

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many business start-ups there were in each ward in each county of North Wales in 2003, listed in descending order;
	(2)  if she will list the 100 wards with the (a) greatest and (b) lowest number of business start-ups in 2003.

Nigel Griffiths: Ward level data on business start-ups are not available.

Correspondence

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to reply to the letter of 19 December 2003 from the hon. Member for Gordon on the operations of BAE Systems in South Africa.

Patricia Hewitt: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 20 April 2004.

Energy Production

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects of clause 76(5) of the Energy Bill on the exercise by Scottish Ministers of their functions in relation to exploitation of areas outside the territorial sea for energy production.

Stephen Timms: The principal objective of Part 3 of the Energy Bill is both to facilitate development of the UK's considerable renewable energy resources—wind, wave and tidal—beyond territorial waters and to enable Government to regulate projects so development takes place in an appropriate manner. Clause 76(5) (now Clause 84(5)) recognises that new installations with associated safety zones and the strategy on decommissioning under the Bill could impact on devolved matters handled by Scottish Ministers such as fishing and environmental protection.

Energy Production

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what functions Scottish Ministers have in relation to the consenting of offshore renewable energy generation plants (a) within and (b) outside the 12 nautical mile territorial seas around Scotland; and what effect the Energy Bill will have on these functions.

Stephen Timms: A Transfer of Functions Order made under the Scotland Act (SI 1999/1750) gave Scottish Ministers responsibility for considering applications under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for offshore renewable energy generation plants in Scottish territorial waters. They also have powers to grant consents under the Coast Protection Act 1949 and licences under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, which are both required for offshore renewable energy installations.
	The Government has agreed that Scottish Ministers should also have responsibility for granting section 36 consents for any installations planned for the Renewable Energy Zone off Scotland. Once the Energy Bill has been enacted, and section 36 powers are extended to the Renewable Energy Zone, the Government and the Scottish Executive intend to bring forward an Order under the Scotland Act 1998 to provide that this function be executively devolved to Scottish Ministers.
	Clause 101 of the Energy Bill will give a power to Scottish Ministers to extinguish public rights of navigation where an applicant applies at the same time for a section 36 consent for a generating station which is planned for waters between the low water mark and the limit of the territorial sea around Scotland.

National Minimum Wage

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workers in Manchester, Gorton have benefited from the national minimum wage.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimate specifically for the constituency of Manchester, Gorton. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released 2003, the DTI estimates that around 140,000 people in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage in April 1999. Between 130,000 and 160,000 people were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the national minimum wage.
	The DTI estimates that between 210,000 and 240,000 people in the North West stand to benefit from the October 2004 uprating of the national minimum wage.

New Businesses

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many new businesses have started up in Birkenhead since 1997;
	(2)  how many new businesses have been established in Birkenhead since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation (published 31 March 2004) includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start-ups in England and Wales, including 500 in Wirral Local Authority (which contains the constituency of Birkenhead), in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. There were 2,100 business start-ups in Wirral Local Authority in 2003. Data for local authorities are not available for before 2003.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for   Wirral Local Authority (which contains the constituency of Birkenhead) are shown in the table for the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
	
		VAT Registration 1997–2002
		
			  Wirral 
		
		
			 1997 660 
			 1998 595 
			 1999 600 
			 2000 600 
			 2001 555 
			 2002 510 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures
	VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

New Businesses

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to help small businesses in Birkenhead since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator for Greater Merseyside (GME) has provided assistance to 194 businesses in the Birkenhead constituency since 2001. The Small Business Service was set up as an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in April 2000. Contracts were exchanged with a national network of 45 business Link operators (seven in the north west) to provide Business Support to small and medium sized enterprises from April 2001. Before this date Government support to businesses was provided through Training and Enterprise Councils and the SBS does not have access to these data.
	The Business Link Operator has provided Business Start Advice to the 194 businesses, and in addition have provided assistance regarding Investors in People, Specialist Business Advice, Workforce development and the Consultancy projects to those companies needing help in these areas.
	Eleven companies have received offers of grant from the Research and Development Grant scheme with a total value of £696,160 since 1997.
	Under the Enterprise Grant Scheme which has now just come to a close (31 March 2004) 13 companies have received offers of grant with a total value of £334,170.

New Businesses

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new businesses have started up in Wirral, South since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation (published 31 March 2004) includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start-ups in England and Wales, including 500 in Wirral Local Authority (which contains the constituency of Wirral, South), in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. There were 2,100 business start-ups in Wirral Local Authority in 2003. Data for local authorities are not available for before 2003.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations forWirral Local Authority (which contains the constituency of Wirral, South) are shown in the table for the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
	
		
			 VAT Registrations 1997–2002 Wirral 
		
		
			 1997 660 
			 1998 595 
			 1999 600 
			 2000 600 
			 2001 555 
			 2002 510 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service.
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

New Businesses

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to help small businesses in Wirral, South since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator for Greater Merseyside (GME) has provided assistance to 109 businesses in the Wirral, South constituency since 2001. The Small Business Service was set up as an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in April 2000. Contracts were exchanged with a national network of 45 Business Link Operators (seven in the north west) to provide Business Support to small and medium sized enterprises form April 2001. Before this date Government Support to businesses was provided through Training and Enterprise Councils and the SBS does not have access to these data.
	The Business Link Operator has provided Business Start Advice to the 109 businesses, and in addition have   provided Specialist business advice, workforce development and consultancy projects to those companies needing help in these areas.
	Fourteen companies have received offers of grant from the Research and Development Grant Scheme with a total value of £465,700 since 1997.
	Under the Enterprise Grant Scheme which has just come to a close (31 March 2004) 11 companies have received offers of grant with a total value of £696,160.

Paid Leave

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Liverpool, Walton are qualified for paid leave entitlement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: All workers resident in Liverpool, Walton qualify for paid leave entitlements at least four weeks as set out in the Working Time Regulations.

Post Office

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how soon the outcome of and lessons learned from the process of the Post Office Urban Reinvention programme will be evaluated and published following the conclusion of that programme.

Stephen Timms: The urban reinvention programme is managed by Post Office Ltd. and decisions on any evaluation will be a matter for the company. The Government do, of course, monitor its expenditure on this programme and will require the company to confirm on completion that it has met its obligation to ensure that 95 per cent. of the urban population nationally continue to live within one mile of their nearest post office.
	Since the programme began, Post Office Ltd. has worked with Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, to improve and refine the processes. This evolutionary nature of the programme has seen a number of significant developments, including my written statement to the House of Commons of 5 February 2004, which details changes to the programme in the light of concerns expressed in Parliament and elsewhere.
	In addition, Postcomm, the independent regulator, reports annually to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on developments in the post office network. These annual reports are published on Postcomm's's website and copies are placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Office

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make the independent review of the facilities at the Crown post office in Bedford part of a wider review into the facilities of the post office network as a whole in Bedford and Kempston.

Stephen Timms: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to my hon. Friend.

Post Office

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the process leading to the decisions Post Office Ltd. has made concerning the   closure of sub-post offices are covered by the Government Code of Practice on the release of official information.

Stephen Timms: No. The final decisions on post office closures following public consultation are operational matters for Post Office Ltd.

Post Office

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  whether the rationale of the statement made by the Minister for Energy, E   Commerce and Postal Services on 5 February concerning the Post Office Urban Reinvention Network was intended to apply as far as possible to the Area Plan proposals for the Bedford and Kempston parliamentary constituency which were subject to public consultation until 17 February;
	(2)  whether the statement made by the Minister for Energy, E Commerce and Postal Services on 5 February concerning the Post Office Urban Reinvention Network came into force with immediate effect.

Stephen Timms: The changes to the public consultation arrangements for closure proposals under Post Office Ltd.'s urban network reinvention programme announced in my statement of 5 February came into force with immediate effect but were not retrospective in their application. The changes therefore applied to the consultation on closure proposals for Bedford and Kempston to the extent compatible with the stage those consultations had reached as at 5 February.

Post Office

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the case for Post Office Ltd. developing a role for post offices as government general practitioners and of Government support for this as mentioned in the Performance and Innovation Unit Report of 2000, Chapter 8, page 16, conclusion 18;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the case for Post Office Ltd. developing a role for the Post Office Network as internet and learning and access points as mentioned in the Performance and Innovation Unit Report of 2000, Chapter 8, page 16, conclusion 17.

Stephen Timms: In line with the Performance and Innovation Unit's recommendations, the Government contributed £25 million to the 'Your Guide' pilot to test the concept of the role for post offices as 'Government General Practitioner' and as internet learning and access points. It was made clear from the outset that the decision on whether or not to roll out a national service would depend on the results of the pilot. The 'Your Guide' pilot showed that a publicly funded national scheme would not represent value for money and we concluded that it should not be rolled out. However, Your Guide highlighted a number of areas in which Government Departments might deliver services through post offices in the future particularly if they could be linked with or channelled through a commercially-based kiosk network. The evaluation report of the Your Guide pilot was published on 23 July 2002 and a copy placed in the Libraries of the House.

Call Centres

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations her Department has received as part of her review of the off-shoring of UK call centres.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department has received a number of responses to our paper "Services and Offshoring: the impact of increasing international competition on services" which will be reflected in our Trade and Investment White Paper to be published in the summer. We have also commissioned a study to inform our understanding of the UK call centre sector and the key factors impacting on its competitiveness including offshoring. We expect to publish a report on the study in early May.

UK Trade and Investment

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) running costs of, (b) cost of staff salaries for and (c) number of people employed, broken down by grade, by UK Trade and Investment were in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 20 April 2004
	The information is as follows:
	(a) Total administration costs for 2002–03, including an apportionment of central overheads attributable to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) activities by DTI and FCO, were as follows:
	DTI: £45,464,000
	FCO: £141,235,000
	(b) The aggregate payroll costs of the DTI and FCO employees working for UKTI were as follows:
	DTI: £21,402,000
	FCO: £48,691,000
	(c) UKTI is not an employing organisation. Staff working for UKTI remain the employees of either the DTI or the FCO. The average number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) persons working for UKTI during 2002–03, broken down by grade, was as follows:
	
		
			  Number of whole-time equivalent persons 
		
		
			 DTI (19)620 
			 Of which:  
			 Range  
			2 18.6 
			3 8.0 
			4 148.2 
			5 8.5 
			6 174.5 
			7 13.4 
			8 119.8 
			9 35.8 
			 10 55.6 
			 11 20.9 
			 SCS 17.0 
			 FCO 1,638 
			 Of which:  
			 UK-based total 353 
			 Of which:  
			 SMS 64.7 
			 D7/D6 61.8 
			 C5 65.68 
			 C4 105.97 
			 B3 37.19 
			 A2 15.04 
			 Al 2.0 
			   
			 Locally engaged staff 1,285 
			 Of which:  
			 LE1 348 
			 LE2 154 
			 LE3 712 
			 LE4 61 
			 LE5 10 
		
	
	(19) This figure varies from the figure published in the UK Trade & Investment Resource Accounts for 2002–03 as it does not include temporary/agency staff.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new money his Department pledged to Afghanistan at the recent Donor Conference in Berlin.

Mike O'Brien: The UK made a total pledge of £500 million over five years (2002–03 to 2006–07) at the international conference on Afghanistan in Berlin on 31 March–1 April 2004. That total includes funding for conflict prevention and counter-narcotics work to which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) contributes, together with other Government departments, through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool and UK Counter-Narcotics strategy.
	The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (funded jointly by FCO, DFID and MOD) has a three-year strategy totalling £52 million from 2003–04 to 2005–06. £11 million was disbursed in 2003–04, leaving £41 million to be spent in 2004–6.
	The FCO component of the three-year UK Counter-Narcotics strategy (2003–04 to 2005–06) totals £47.2 million. £12.7 million of this was disbursed in 2003–04, leaving £34.5 million to be committed in 2004–06.
	The British Embassy in Kabul also has an FCO budget of £250,000 for local project work in 2004–05.

British Citizens (Deaths Abroad)

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many deaths abroad of Britons (a) travelling and (b) living overseas, broken down by the numbers dying of (i) natural causes and (ii) the main categories of non-natural causes.

Chris Mullin: In financial year 2002–03 3,998 Britons died overseas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) only records the deaths of British nationals where our consular staff have been directly involved. We do not record statistics where our staff have been informed of a death and need take no further action.
	The FCO does not maintain statistics recording either the nature of each death or the breakdown between the numbers of deaths of Britons travelling and living overseas.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Frank Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to promote the Convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects,   with particular reference to the ratification of Protocol V.

Denis MacShane: A legally binding Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War was agreed at the meeting of States Panics to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on 27/28 November 2003. The UK, along with EU partners, had long pushed for the adoption of a legally binding protocol and we are delighted that a consensus was reached. We received our certified true copy of the instrument from the United Nations in March 2004 and are currently looking at the necessary measures needed to implement the new Protocol. We hope to ratify in the near future. We would also encourage all states to ratify as soon as they are able and to keep to the spirit of the new Protocol in the interim period.

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings he plans to have with representatives of British peace organisations in advance of the next Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2005 UN Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Denis MacShane: Officials have already met with members of a number of peace organisations prior to the   forthcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Preparatory Committee which is due to take place in New York on 26 April to 7 May. The Campaign for   Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Christian CND, Abolition 20005 Network for Peace, and the World Court Project have all been represented on these occasions. The Government are committed to regular exchanges with representatives of non-governmental organisations as part of our on-going consultations during the NPT review cycle.

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will represent the UK at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee in April/May in New York.

Denis MacShane: The UK delegation will be headed by David Brouchen the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He will be accompanied by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in advance statements to be presented by the British delegation at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee.

Denis MacShane: The Government do not intend to publish in advance any statements to be presented by the UK delegation to the Non-proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee. These are intended to reflect the latest developments including those at the conference itself. However, all statements will be placed in the Library of the House and on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website following the Preparatory Committee meeting.

Palestine

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the US Administration before the UK cast its vote in the UN Special Security Council meeting called to discuss the assassination of Sheikh Yassin; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The UK engaged in negotiations with other United Nations Security Council members—including the US—to try to establish a resolution which would be acceptable to all. The UK made it clear that it would have voted for this resolution if its proposers had accepted an amendment condemning terrorist atrocities by Hamas against Israel. This would have reflected the position of the European Union. We regret that our proposed amendment was not accommodated.

US/UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to lay before the House any amendments to the renewal of the 1958 Agreement for Co-operation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes between Her Majesty's Government and the United States of America; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: Subject to the outcome of our continuing discussions with the Government of the United States, we expect to lay before the House some amendments to the Mutual Defence Agreement, including provision for its renewal for a further 10 years. We would expect these amendments to be laid before the House later this year in accordance with normal procedures.

US/UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the scope of the discussions is between the United Kingdom and the United States Governments on the renewal of the 1958 Agreement for Co-operation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: Discussions are continuing between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States concerning the 1958 Agreement for Co-operation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes. The Agreement requires renewal every 10 years and was last renewed in 1994. The present discussions concern the minor amendments and updating necessary to enable the Agreement to be renewed before it expires in December 2004.

US/UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will post a copy of the US-UK Agreement for Cooperation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes (as amended in 1994) on his Department's website.

Denis MacShane: When any amendments to the Mutual Defence Agreement are laid before Parliament, copies of the Command Paper and accompanying Explanatory Memorandum will be posted on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website in accordance with the practice established in 2002.
	The FCO will also place a copy of the original Agreement and subsequent amendments on its website at that time.

HEALTH

Acrylamide

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the (a) prevalence of acrylamide in cooked and prepared food and (b) results of recent research commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.

Melanie Johnson: Acrylamide has been found in a wide range of cooked and processed foods.
	The Food Standards Agency has commissioned several research projects, including a survey of acrylamide levels in the United Kingdom diet. The dietary survey is due to be published this summer.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many senior citizens in Birkenhead have access to free eye tests;
	(2)  how many residents in Birkenhead aged over 60 years have benefited from the abolition of charges for eye tests.

Melanie Johnson: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of senior citizens are not collected centrally.
	In 2002–03, the total number of national health service sight tests paid for patients aged 60 and over in Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority was 201,180. The total number eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 507,080. Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Birkenhead are receiving drug treatment.

Melanie Johnson: Birkenhead is part of Wirral drug action team. There were 2,269 people receiving drug treatment in Wirral in 2000–01. This is the latest available data. Data broken down by drug action team for 2001–02 and 2002–03 have not been finalised and published.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed in Birkenhead in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) therapists and (b) scientists were located in Birkenhead in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff in the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority area by grade and by each specified organisation as at 30September each specified year headcount
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Q15 Cheshire & Merseyside SHA 4,922 5,122 5,324 5,562 5,959 6,317 6,702 
			 of which
			 Total specified organisations 1,201 1,215 1,246 1,256 1,281 1,406 1,439 
			 5H2 Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT — — — — — 76 59 
			 Manager — — — — — 1 3 
			 Therapist — — — — — 69 38 
			 Scientist — — — — — 3  
			 Technician — — — — — 3 18 
			 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 497 512 530 541 540 554 570 
			 Manager 3 4 5 6 6 6 6 
			 Therapist 241 241 246 254 240 260 268 
			 Scientist 37 38 55 54 57 8 11 
			 Scientific officer 81 78 73 73 71 133 142 
			 Technician 131 148 148 151 163 145 141 
			 Instructor/ teacher 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 
			 RQ6 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen 704 703 716 715 741 776 810 
			 Manager 1 — — — — 1 1 
			 Therapist 231 245 256 261 267 277 286 
			 Scientist 58 55 57 58 58 68 79 
			 Scientific officer 205 191 190 181 192 195 195 
			 Technician 202 200 202 205 210 221 235 
			 Instructor/ teacher 6 6 5 4 4 6 6 
			 Tutor 1 6 6 6 10 8 8 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been to NHS waiting list time for the residents of Birkenhead in the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		Out-patients waiting to be seen over 13 weeks for the Birkenhead area (Provider based)
		
			  Patients waiting to be seen in number of weeks 
			  Quarter Unit code Unit name Speciality Not seen 13 to 25 Not seen 26+ 
		
		
			 1995–96 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 873 704 
			 1996–97 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 1,316 818 
			 1997–98 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 1,202 558 
			 1998–99 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 1,597 1,236 
			 1999–2000 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 3,853 3,025 
			 2000–01 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 1,586 2,419 
			 2001–02 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 1,720 0 
		
	
	
		Patients waiting to be seen in number of weeks
		
			  Quarter Unit code Name Speciality Not seen 13 to 17 Not seen 17 to 21 Not seen 21–26 Not seen 26+ 
		
		
			 2002–03 4 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 600 458 0 0 
			 2003–04 3 RBL Wirral Hospital NHS Trust All specialties 370 0 0 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health QM08.
	
		Out-patients waiting to be seen over 13 weeks for the Birkenhead area (Resident based) -- Patients waiting to be seen in number of weeks
		
			  Quarter Unit code Name Speciality Not seen 13 to 25 Not seen 26+ 
		
		
			 1997–98 4 QDC Wirral HA All specialties 1,443 654 
			 1998–99 4 QDC Wirral HA All specialties 1,781 1,351 
			 1999–2000 4 QDC Wirral HA All specialties 4,130 3,261 
			 2000–01 4 QDC Wirral HA All specialties 1,644 2,464 
			 2001–02 4 QDC Wirral HA All specialties 1,684 1 
		
	
	
		Patients waiting to be seen in number of weeks
		
			 Collection ID StHA code Unit code Name Speciality Not seen 13 to 17 Not seen 17 to 21 Not seen 21 to 26 Not seen 26+ 
		
		
			 2002–03 4 5F8 Bebington and West Wirral PCT All specialties 204 137 0 0 
			 2002–03 4 5H2 Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT All specialties 375 292 0 0 
			 2003–04 3 5F8 Bebington and West Wirral PCT All specialties 117 2 0 0 
			 2003–04 3 5H2 Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT All specialties 269 3 0 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health QM08R.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of suspected cancer patients in Birkenhead saw an NHS consultant within two weeks in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Waiting times for patients with suspected cancer referred urgently by their GP to first out-patient appointment: Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust
		
			  Quarter Percentage of patients seen in two weeks Total patients seen Patients seen in two weeks 
		
		
			 2000–01 4 97.8 450 440 
			 2001–02 1 97.7 474 463 
			 2001–02 2 98.6 553 545 
			 2001–02 3 99.5 611 608 
			 2001–02 4 98.2 625 614 
			 2002–03 1 93.6 706 661 
			 2002–03 2 89.9 714 642 
			 2002–03 3 80.2 696 558 
			 2002–03 4 93.5 650 608 
			 2003–04 1 98.0 756 741 
			 2003–04 2 98.3 835 821 
			 2003–04 3 99.6 810 807 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QMCW.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS waiting times for heart surgery in Birkenhead.

Melanie Johnson: In March 1997 there were 138 people waiting nine months and 40 people waiting over 12 months for heart surgery at the cardiothoracic centre—Liverpool National Health Service Trust. The latest available figures show that in February 2004, there were no people waiting nine months and over for surgery.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residents in Birkenhead awaiting heart surgery have had the option of choosing an alternative hospital for quicker treatment in the last 12 months.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many rapid access chest pain clinics there are in Birkenhead.

Melanie Johnson: There are no rapid access chest pain clinics in Birkenhead. Rapid access chest pain clinics are held at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there is a diagnostic and treatment centre located in Birkenhead.

Melanie Johnson: There is no treatment centre in   Birkenhead. There is a treatment centre on the Clatterbridge Hospital site, which is managed by the Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been spent on (a) heart disease and (b) cancer care in Birkenhead in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally. Allocations of funding for particular treatments are matters for the local primary care trust.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been spent on health in Birkenhead in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. Expenditure per weighted head in the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, which includes the constituency of Birkenhead, has increased from £596.24 in 1997–98 to £1,103.34 in 2002–03 (the latest year available). This does not represent the total expenditure per head as an element of health expenditure cannot be identified by SHA area.

Mobile Phones

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the impact of electro-magnetic fields on the dielectric properties of cells, in relation to mobile phones.

Melanie Johnson: The Government established the independent expert group on mobile phones (IEGMP) under the chairmanship of Sir William Stewart and the IEGMP report on mobile phones and health was published in May 2000. That report considered both thermal and non-thermal mechanisms of interaction of electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and evaluated a wide range of biological effects including cellular effects.
	A further review of health effects was carried out by an independent advisory group on non-ionising radiation (AGNIR), entitled "Health Effects from Radiofrequency (RF) Electromagnetic Fields", this is available at www.nrpb.org. This report was issued in January 2004 and provided an updated review of the   biological effects including cellular effects and interaction mechanisms, noting that
	"Although there has been a wide range of diverse exposures and models investigated, no consistent pattern has emerged from the cellular studies of RF exposure. The balance of the findings on carcinogenesis is that there is little evidence and no known mechanism to support a direct or indirect effect of RF radiation on this process. Positive findings are not confirmed by other independent studies; apparently similar experiments fail to confirm each other and may even show contradictory results."
	The AGNIR will continue to review the scientific literature both national and international that is relevant to the issue of mobile telephony and health.
	Further research is being undertaken by the mobile telecommunications and health research (MTHR) programme with funding of £7.4 million. This was set up to investigate areas of scientific uncertainty highlighted by the IEGMP report and areas identified as important by the MTHR programme management committee. A range of research projects have been funded by MTHR including studies on cells, brain physiology and the fundamental dielectric properties of biological tissues. A number of these projects are scheduled for completion over the next year.

Accidents (Children)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-fatal accidents were recorded to have happened to children in England in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is not available in the form requested. Estimates of the number of accidents are available from the health survey for England and are shown in the table. For children, aged two to 15, the annual accident rate per 100 persons for major and minor accidents from data for the three survey years 1995–97, aggregated together, and the two survey years 2001–02, aggregated together are shown. In the health survey, 'major accidents' include all those where a doctor was   consulted or a hospital was visited, and 'minor accidents' include all accidents that caused pain or discomfort for over 24 hours.
	
		Annual accident rate per 100 persons, 1995–97 and 2001–02, by age and sex
		
			  Annual accident rate per 100 children 
			  Males 2 to 15-years-old Females 2 to 15-years-old 
		
		
			 1995–97   
			 Major accidents 31 22 
			 Standard error 1.1 0.9 
			 Minor accidents 216 144 
			 Standard error 11.6 8.9 
			
			 2001–02   
			 Major accidents 26 19 
			 Standard error 1.0 0.8 
			 Minor accidents 226 174 
			 Standard error 13.0 10.7 
			
			 Bases   
			 1995–97   7,365 7,365 
			 2001–02 5,372 5,283

Alcohol Treatment Services

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the alcohol treatment services in the North West offered by each NHS trust; and what the budget was for each of these services in each of the last three financial years.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 19 April 2004
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Alzheimer's Disease

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will estimate the number of patients with moderately-severe and severe Alzheimer's disease living (a) at home and (b) in institutional care; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many patients are suffering from moderately-severe and severe Alzheimer's disease; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Although the Department does not routinely collect this information, we estimate that of the 700,000 or so people with dementia in England and Wales, around 400,000 have Alzheimer's disease. Of these, we estimate around 200,000 have moderately severe or severe Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's Disease

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list for each (a) primary care trust and (b) strategic health authority area the total amount spent on drugs for severe Alzheimer's disease in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the availability of drugs for advanced Alzheimer's disease throughout the UK; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what guidelines he has sent to primary care trusts regarding the availability of drug treatments for severe Alzheimer's disease patients; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what discussions he has held with (a) patient groups, (b) charities, (c) old age psychiatrists and (d) the drug industry concerning the availability of drug treatment for severe Alzheimer's disease patients;
	(5)  if he will make a statement on the funding for drug   treatments for severe Alzheimer's disease in advance of a National Institute for Clinical Excellence appraisal;
	(6)  if he will list the licensed treatments currently available for moderately-severe to severe Alzheimer's disease patients.

Stephen Ladyman: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), on behalf of the Licensing Authority, grants marketing authorisations for medicinal products provided that satisfactory quality, safety and efficacy data have been submitted for the medicinal product for use in the proposed indication and that the risk benefit is deemed favourable. According to the MHRA records, there is one licensed product, Ebixa (memantine hydrochloride), which is indicated for the treatment of moderately-severe to severe Alzheimer's disease.
	Information on Ebixa dispensed at primary care trust and strategic health authority (SHA) level is not publicly available due to the small numbers involved. However, it is known that Ebixa was dispensed in the community in all 28 SHAs in England in 2002–03.
	No formal discussions have taken place between Ministers and stakeholders concerning the availability of drug treatment for severe Alzheimer's disease patients.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is, however, appraising Ebixa as part of the eighth wave of its work programme. The anticipated publication date of its guidance is May 2005.
	The Department has asked National Health Service bodies (in HSC 1999/176) to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies, including drugs such as Ebixa, where guidance from NICE is not published at the time the technology first became available. These arrangements should involve an assessment of all the available evidence.
	When considering the funding of any treatment currently being appraised by NICE, or where no appraisal has been commissioned, funding authorities are expected to use their existing prescribing arrangements and consider the evidence available to them on the clinical effectiveness of the treatment.

Bank Nurses

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to NHS trusts with regard to checking the credentials of bank nurses; and how the system is monitored.

John Hutton: The Department issued a code of practice for the supply of temporary staff in July 2002. A copy is available on the Department's website. All temporary staff employed in the national health service, whether employed through NHS Professionals, private recruitment agencies or from local banks, are subject to the same checks as anyone applying for a substantive post. This includes criminal records checks, qualification checks, taking up references and checks on Nursing and Midwifery Council registrations.

Blood Donation

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work is being undertaken by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence into the most efficient use of blood donations in the NHS.

Melanie Johnson: Erythropoietin for the treatment of chemotherapy induced anaemia, as an alternative to blood transfusion, was referred to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) as part of the ninth wave work programme in October 2003. Full details of the technology appraisal can be found on NICE's website at www.nice.org.uk. No other topics on alternatives to blood transfusion are planned for referral to NICE at this time.

Blood Donation

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health upon what evidence his Department based its position that there is less risk of variant CJD infection via blood transfusions of pooled plasma than via blood transfusions from one blood donor.

Melanie Johnson: A paper by Llewelyn CA. et al (2004); Lancet; Vol. 363, pp 417–421 reported that the risks from products prepared from large pools of plasma to a recipient are probably less than from blood transfusion. The paper has been placed in the Library. The lower individual risk is also indicated by the risk assessment carried out by Det Norske Veritas.

Cervical Cancer

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the introduction of the new liquid-based cytology method of cervical cancer screening to   have been completed in each of the strategic health   authority regions, broken down by expected introduction date.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 19 April 2004
	We expect full implementation of liquid based cytology (LBC) to take up to five years, due to the retraining of all laboratory staff who read cervical screening tests and all sample takers in primary care. We provided £1.2 million in 2003–04 and are providing a further £6 million in 2004–05 to kick-start this process. The intention is that cytology training schools should be converted first in order to be in a position to train the rest of the programme. Strategic health authorities have been issued with advice on how best they can roll out LBC for their local populations, laboratories and primary care, and are developing plans accordingly. A national timetable of conversion over the next five years will become apparent as these plans progress.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency and (b) Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust area;
	(2)  when the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will be implemented by the Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust;
	(3)  whether pulmonary rehabilitation is offered by the Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust to patients who consider themselves functionally disabled by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Melanie Johnson: These data are not collected on a constituency basis. However, the Department commissioned the Wessex Institute for Health Research and Development to produce a report on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The report estimated that, in a typical health authority of 500,000 people, around 3,000 in the 45 plus age group would have COPD.
	As part of our commitment to improve services for patients with COPD, we commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to prepare clinical guidelines for the national health service in England and Wales for the prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment of COPD.
	Now that the guidelines have been published, primary care trusts, in partnership with local stakeholders, will decide what local service improvements need to be made. They have the responsibility for deciding what services to provide for their populations, including those with COPD and other respiratory diseases. They are best placed to understand local health needs and commission services to meet them.

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group and (iii) age group; and how many are registered disabled.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is available in the annual publication, Civil Service Statistics, which is published by the Cabinet Office. Copies of Civil Service Statistics 2002, which was published on 24 July 2003, is available in the Library and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. Civil Service Statistics 2003 will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.

Committee on Safety of Medicines

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to his answer of 24 March 2004, Official Report, column 913W, on the Committee on Safety of Medicines, what information was assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in 2002;
	(2)  pursuant to his answer of 24 March 2004, Official Report, column 913W, on the Committee on Safety of Medicines, what changes were made to the product information on risperidone in 2002.

Stephen Ladyman: The information assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2002 relating to cerebrovascular events associated withrisperidone comprised: a review of serious cerebrovascular events in four randomised placebo controlled trials in dementia; two open-label extension trials in dementia and non-dementia studies; an analysis of non-serious cerebrovascular events (for example, very transient or mild transient ischaemic attack symptoms) in dementia studies; a review of relevant spontaneously reported suspected adverse drug reaction from the marketing authorisation holder's pharmacovigilance database. A review of the scientific literature was performed but did not locate any relevant articles or case reports.
	The following warnings were added to the summary of product characteristics for risperidone:
	"Cerebrovascular accidents have been observed during treatment with risperidone".
	"Risperidal should be used with caution in patients with known cardiovascular disease including those associated with prolongation of the QT interval and the dose should be gradually titrated".
	Consequential changes to the side-effects section of the patient information leaflet were made to clearly describe various symptoms of stroke, with an instruction to seek medical attention should these occur.

Consultant Contracts

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS consultants had signed the new consultants' contract at 1 April.

John Hutton: holding answer 20 April 2004
	Data is not available centrally on the take up of the consultant contract as at 1 April. Information on take up during April as a whole should be available by early May.

Consultant Contracts

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many of those NHS consultants who have not signed the new contract have reduced their commitment to NHS sessions below that indicated in their workload review;
	(2)  how many of those NHS consultants who have signed the new contract are contracted to provide fewer sessions than their workload review indicated they were formerly undertaking in the NHS.

John Hutton: holding answers 20 April 2004
	Information on the content of individual consultant job plans is not held centrally.

Contraception

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many girls in England of school age were prescribed (a) contraceptive pills, (b) a contraceptive injection and (c) a contraceptive implant in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: Contraceptives may be prescribed by general practitioners or by family planning clinics. Information regarding GP prescriptions broken down according to age is not available. The number of girls aged under 16 whose primary method of contraception was the pill, injection or implant obtained from family planning clinics in the period 1996–97 to 2002–03 is shown in the table.
	
		First contacts with women aged under 16 at NHS family planning clinics by primary method of contraception, England, 1996–97 to 2002–03
		
			  Pill Injection Implant 
		
		
			 1996–97 23,000 1,000 100 
			 1997–98 22,700 1,200 0 
			 1998–99 21,800 1,300 0 
			 1999–2000 22,700 1,500 0 
			 2000–01 23,900 2,000 100 
			 2001–02 24,100 2,300 100 
			 2002–03 24,500 2,500 200 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health Statistics Division; return KT31. Numbers rounded to the nearest hundred.

Dentistry

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of adults in the Cumbria and Lancashire Health Authority were registered with an NHS dentist in each of the last seven years.

Melanie Johnson: The table shows registration numbers and registration rates for Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) for September in each year from 1997. These are for the general dental service (GDS).
	
		Adult dental registrations in the general dental service (GDS) and registration rate in Cumbria and Lancashire SHA area(20)
		
			   September each year  Adult registrations (thousands) Adult registration rate (percentage of population) 
		
		
			 1997(21) 760.4 52.0 
			 1998 675.0 46.1 
			 1999 684.4 46.8 
			 2000 688.5 47.0 
			 2001 674.6 45.9 
			 2002 669.9 45.3 
			 2003 662.3 45.2 
		
	
	(20) Cumbria and Lancashire SHA area comprised five HAs before October 1992: South Lancashire, Morecambe Bay, East Lancashire, North West Lancashire and North Cumbria
	(21) 1997 figures are not comparable with figures for later years. The registration period was reduced for new registrations to 15 months from September 1996 which affected registration numbers between September 1997 and September 1998.
	Note:
	Registration numbers cover people who have attended a general dental service dentist within the past 15 months. The figures exclude patients receiving GDS treatment on an occasional basis as well as occasional attenders, who have not attended within the past 15 months. The registrations figures exclude some national health service services as well as private dental services which many people may choose to have.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Diabetes Centre

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding is made available to the Diabetes Centre at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire; and what changes are planned to this allocation in coming years.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not held centrally.

Doctors

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors there were per head of population in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: The standard ratio used by the Department is per 100,000 population.
	The data requested has been placed in the Library.

Drinking Water Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to require bottled water to meet drinking water standards applicable to tap water.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 19 April 2004
	Spring water and bottled drinking water already have to comply with the standards for tap water. Natural mineral water, which must come from a natural source and cannot be treated, may contain higher levels of minerals than those permitted in tap water. However, limits are in place for potentially toxic substances and microbiological parameters. The limits for natural mineral water, as with drinking water, spring water and bottled drinking water, are set on health grounds.

Health Services (Wirral, South)

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been spent on (a) heart disease and (b) cancer care in Wirral, South in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally. Allocations of funding for particular treatments are matters for the local primary care trust.

Health Services (Wirral, South)

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS waiting times for heart surgery in Wirral, South.

Melanie Johnson: In March 1997 there were 138 people waiting nine months and 40 people waiting over 12 months for heart surgery at the cardiothoracic centre, Liverpool National Health Service Trust. The latest available figures show that in February 2004 there were no people waiting nine months and over for surgery.

Health Services (Wirral, South)

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many residents in Wirral, South aged over 60 years have benefited from the abolition of charges for eye tests;
	(2)  how many citizens in Wirral, South had access to free eye tests in 2003–04.

Melanie Johnson: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of senior citizens are not collected centrally.
	In 2002–03, the total number of national health service sight tests paid for patients aged 60 and over in Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) was 201,180. The total number eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 507,080. The total number of NHS sight tests paid for by Cheshire and Merseyside SHA in the year 2002–03 was 453,250.
	Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

Heart Choice Pilots

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health   which (a) NHS and (b) independent sector providers have treated patients under the Heart Choice pilots.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the lists.
	NHS Providers
	Papworth Hospital NHS Trust
	St Mary's NHS Trust
	Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
	University College London Hospitals NHS Trust
	Barts and the London NHS Trust
	Guy's & St Thomas1 Hospital NHS Trust
	King's College Hospital NHS Trust
	St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
	The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust
	South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust
	Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
	Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust
	South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Central Manchester & Manchester Children's University Hospitals
	NHS Trust
	Cardiothoracic Centre Liverpool NHS Trust
	The Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust
	Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
	United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust
	Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
	Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust
	University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
	North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust
	Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust
	University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust
	University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
	Independent Sector Providers
	BMI Park, Nottingham
	BMI Priory, Birmingham
	BMI, London Independent
	BMI Thornbury, Sheffield
	BUPA Bristol
	BUPA Cambridge
	BUPA Chalybeate, Southampton
	BUPA Leeds
	BUPA Leicester
	BUPA Washington
	Cromwell Hospital, London
	HCA, (Harley St Clinic, London Bridge Hospital/ Wellington Hospital)
	HCI, Glasgow
	King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex
	Nuffield Leicester
	Yorkshire Clinic

Heart Choice Pilots

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients who have participated in the Heart Choice pilot have chosen an alternative provider; and what proportion of patients have been treated in the independent sector.

Melanie Johnson: Of those clinically eligible, the proportion of patients who have participated in the heart choice pilot that have chosen an alternative provider is 50 per cent. We do not hold figures on the breakdown of heart choice between the national health service and independent sector.
	This data is based on voluntary returns from NHS trusts during the pilot phase.

Heart Choice Pilots

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients have participated in the Heart Choice pilots.

Melanie Johnson: The total number of patients that were eligible to participate in the heart choice pilots was 9,090. Of these 6,328 were deemed to be clinically eligible. The number of patients who made a choice was 6,010 and of these, 3,034 opted for treatment elsewhere.
	This data is based on voluntary returns from national health service trusts during the pilot phase.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanners

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken towards ensuring that there is a magnetic resonance imaging scanner on site at every major hospital trust in England.

Melanie Johnson: After decades of underinvestment, there has been an unprecedented level   of central capital funding provided to purchase magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners since 2000, first through the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and now through central Department of Health capital. These programmes are providing over 160 new MRI scanners from 2000 to 2006, resulting in a 150 per cent. increase in the number of MRI scanners available to the national health service since 1997.
	Once the central programmes have been completed in 2006, all large acute and/or teaching NHS hospital trusts will have MRI on at least one hospital site.
	The allocation of new MRI scanners has been agreed in conjunction with strategic health authorities. Allocations have been made to ensure equitable access to MRI services across the country.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanners

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government have spent in each of the last five years on (a) procurement of new magnetic resonance imaging scanners and (b) training staff to operate them; and what the projected expenditure is in each of the next five years.

Melanie Johnson: From 1999 to 2004, approximately £38.5 million was spent in providing 57 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners via the New Opportunities Fund.
	In 2003–04, approximately £33.5 million of Department of Health cancer capital was spent in providing new and replacement MRI scanners.
	It is estimated that departmental cancer capital spending on MRI in 2004–05 will be approximately £46 million and in 2004–05 will be approximately £30 million.
	The projected expenditure on MRI beyond 2005–06 is not known at this stage, although, on 8 April 2004, the Department launched a procurement from the private sector to provide an extra 80,000 mobile MRI scans per year for the national health service for five years.
	Initial applications training for the use of new MRI equipment is included in the capital cost of that equipment and has therefore been provided to all NHS trusts in the central procurement programmes. Further training requirements will vary from centre to centre and are the responsibility of local NHS institutions.

Mersey Regional Ambulance Service

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the level and quality of service provided by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service on the weekend of 26 and 27 March.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 19 April 2004
	The Department does not collect information from ambulance trusts on a daily basis. Information is   collected annually on volume of service and performance against required standards-details of the returns are in the statistical bulletin Ambulance Service, England: 2002–03.
	A copy is available in the Library and also on the Department's website at www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0313.htm.

NHS Dentistry

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the total spending on NHS dentistry in Morley and Rothwell in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Gross fees paid to general dental service dentists in Leeds Health Authority area -- £ million
		
			  Gross fees 
		
		
			 1997–98 20.7 
			 1998–99 22.2 
			 1999–2000 22.7 
			 2000–01 23.0 
			 2001–02 24.3 
			 2002–03(22) 12.2 
		
	
	(22) First half of year only
	Source:
	Department of Health.

NHS Staff (Oxfordshire)

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) age, (b) gender, (c) ethnic background and (d) length of employment within the NHS breakdowns are of NHS staff working in the (i)   Oxfordshire community hospitals of Townlands, Wallingford, Abingdon, Wantage, Wattington and Didcot and (ii) Oxford Radcliffe and Royal Berkshire hospitals.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not   held centrally at individual hospital level. The information requested for age, gender and ethnic background is available at trust level. Information for the trusts responsible for the above hospitals has been placed in the Library.
	The length of employment within the National Health Service for the above hospitals is not collected centrally.

Nursing

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's projected spending plans on the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (a) were for 2003 and (b) are for (i) 2004, (i) 2005 and (iii) 2006.

Rosie Winterton: In 2003–04, the budget for the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) was £34.9 million. This included £5.2 million for the national independent complaints advocacy service (ICAS) and around £8 million to support Community Health Councils until 1 December 2003. The budget for the CPPIH in 2004–05 and 2005–06 is £33.3 million and an additional £6.8 million is being made available for ICAS.

Nursing

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set on introducing modern matrons; what the (a) baselines and (b) deadlines for these targets are; and what progress has been made against the targets.

John Hutton: The introduction of modern matrons was signalled in the NHS Plan in 2000. In April 2001, my   right hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) said there would be 500 modern matrons by April 2002 and up to 2,000 by 2004.
	A detailed progress report was published in April 2002, including results of a survey that showed that there were nearly 1,900 posts across England.
	The most recent data show that there are now nearly 3,000 modern matrons across England.

Nursing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on arrangements for the assessment of an individual for funded nursing home placement; under what circumstances a process is caused to be commenced; and how a relative can ensure that an assessment is performed.

Stephen Ladyman: Individuals should receive an assessment to determine their needs and then a care plan as to how those needs will be met. Where their needs will be best met in a care home providing nursing care, the national health service will determine whether their needs are such that the NHS will fund all their care, or whether the NHS will fund only the care provided by a registered nurse.
	The Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc.) Act 2003, requires the NHS and social services in England to assess patients who need further care from the NHS or social services before they are discharged from hospital. For others, the NHS and social services should provide an assessment when it appears necessary or when requested. Relatives and carers may request assessment or re-assessment of an older person's needs, and in doing so may specify the type of assessment they feel is most appropriate.

Personal Care Plans

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of providing every patient with a long-term condition with a personal care plan.

Stephen Ladyman: We do not have information on how much it would cost to provide everyone with a long-term condition with a personal care plan.
	Care plans are an important part of responding to the individual needs of patients with chronic conditions and managing their care to keep them healthier for longer. For example the first standard of the national service framework on renal disease states that:
	"all children, young people and adults with chronic kidney disease are to have access to information that enables them to make informed decisions and encourages partnership in decision-making, with an agreed care plan that supports them in managing their condition to achieve the best possible quality of life."

Prostate Cancer

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has evaluated on the effects of frequent ejaculation in protecting men from prostate cancer; and what advice his Department provides on this.

Melanie Johnson: The Department's prostate cancer risk management programme was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Member for Darlington (Mr.   Milburn) as part of the National Health Service prostate cancer programme in September 2000. However, no specific research has been carried out or evaluated on whether frequent ejaculation protects men from prostate cancer. A prostate cancer information sheet is available through the National Institute for Clinical Excellence website at www.nice.org.uk/.

Respiratory Conditions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of school aged children in England suffer from respiratory conditions.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. The latest hospital episode statistics which relate to diseases of the respiratory system in the age group five to 16 years of age are shown in the table. Admissions may relate to more than one episode for the same child.
	
		Count of finished admissions episodes: age group 5 to 16 years. Primary diagnosis—Diseases of the respiratory system in NHS hospitals in England 2002–03
		
			  Finished admissions 
		
		
			 2002–03 65,939 
		
	
	Notes:
	Ungrossed Data—figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)—the primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Security Incidents (NHS)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many security incidents he estimates there were in the NHS in England in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Information on security incidents is available for the period 1999 to 2002. This is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001–02 166,667 
			 2000–01 112,095 
			 1999–2000 106,935 
		
	
	No statistics are available for the period 1997 to 1999 and 2002 to present.
	Policy on the management of security in the national health service passed to the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service on 1 April 2003.

Trust Finances

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) primary care trusts and (b) NHS trusts recorded a deficit at the end of the financial year 2003–04.

John Hutton: holding answer 20 April 2004
	The audited information in respect of the 2003–04 financial position of all primary care trusts and national health service trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts and will be available centrally in autumn 2004.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Location Monitoring

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 15 March, Official Report, column 129W, on electronic tagging, if he will have a pilot scheme on location monitoring satellite tracking technology in Northern Ireland.

Paul Murphy: Pursuant to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr Goggins), there is no legislation to permit electronic monitoring in Northern Ireland.

Alcohol Consumption

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for   Northern Ireland what restrictions apply to the consumption of alcohol on local (a) trains and (b) buses.

John Spellar: The Public Service Vehicles Regulations (NI) 1985 prohibit the consumption of alcohol on buses but not on trains. Railway Byelaws allow the consumption of alcohol to be banned on certain pre-advertised train journeys.

Animal Welfare

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to deliver a high standard of animal welfare within agriculture in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: A wide range of legislation has already been introduced in Northern Ireland to protect all species of animals, including farm animals, from cruelty and neglect, to provide them with adequate housing and transport conditions. In addition, DARD officials are currently actively engaged in replacing the existing range of advisory Welfare Codes for all the major species of farm animals with revised versions incorporating fresh developments in technology and our understanding of animal behaviours.
	The main general welfare provisions are laid down in the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations (NI) 2000 which consolidates and replaces previous legislation, implements four EU Council Directives and reflects the European Convention on the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes. The regulations lay down a general principle that the owners and keepers of animals kept for farming purposes must take reasonable steps to ensure the welfare on animals in their care and prevent them experiencing any unnecessary pain, suffering or   injury. The requirements of the legislation are comprehensive, and DARD veterinary staff and meat hygiene officials actively enforce all of their provisions.

Asbestos

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's policy is regarding the disposal of asbestos at district council amenity sites in (a) North Down and (b) Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Waste asbestos arising from households or commercial/industrial premises is classified as special waste under the Special Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998. Any facility, located in Northern Ireland, receiving such waste must be licensed to accept it under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.

Ballybeen Estate

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding contingency is held with respect to the current exclusion of the Ballybeen Estate in Dundonald from the Belfast Regeneration Offices Business Plan, should it become part of the East Belfast constituency as a result of the Boundary Commission Report.

John Spellar: The level of funding available to an area is not determined by the parliamentary constituency within which it is situated and the outcome of the Boundary Commission Review will have no impact on the level of funds available to Ballybeen Estate in Dundonald. However, if following the Boundary Commission's report Ballybeen is included in a new East Belfast constituency the Department for Social Development will review internal administrative boundaries and the regeneration of the area may fall to the Belfast Regeneration Office. This would be a purely administrative change that will have no impact on how Government funding is allocated.

Benefit Entitlements

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the benefit entitlement available to those living in Northern Ireland on an ancestral visa.

John Spellar: Immigration rules require that people who wish to travel to the United Kingdom through UK ancestry must intend to take or seek employment. They should therefore be able to support and accommodate themselves without claiming certain state benefits. These include:
	Income Support
	Jobseeker's Allowance
	Housing Benefit
	Tax Credits
	Social Fund Payments
	Child Benefit
	Any disability allowance

Boundary Reviews

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the timetable is for the forthcoming review of parliamentary boundaries and local government boundaries in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: The Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland intend to publish Provisional Recommendations in the spring of this year. Because the Review of Public Administration is continuing, the Secretary of State is not yet in a position   to appoint a Local Government Boundaries Commissioner to undertake a review of local boundaries in Northern Ireland.

Brucellosis

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action is being taken to limit potential brucellosis outbreaks in cattle in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: My Department has in place a Brucellosis control programme which aims to bring about a substantial reduction in disease levels and the eventual eradication of brucellosis from Northern Ireland. The control measures are based on a programme of testing, the slaughter of infected animals, the restriction of movements of animals to and from infected herds and surrounding herds, and the tracing of contact animals.
	The implementation of the Brucellosis Policy Review recommendations, which I announced last June, will ensure further progress towards eradication of the disease. The process of extending annual Brucellosis testing throughout Northern Ireland got under way in November. The public consultation exercise on the subordinate legislation needed to implement further revised measures was launched on 30 January 2004 and I hope to have the necessary subordinate legislation in place by mid 2004. Work is also under way on the feasibility of further measures that we hope to implement.
	We are already seeing some effect from the control measures that have been implemented. During the year we have seen a reduction in the number of new herds restricted because of brucellosis. The number of new herds restricted during 2003 was 261. The comparable figure for 2002 was 361.

College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 868W on Peace II Programme, under what measure number the money was awarded to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE); who authorised the approval to distribute the money to CAFRE; under whose name money was awarded to CAFRE; and what items of expenditure in addition to normal running costs of CAFRE the money funded.

Ian Pearson: The money in respect of this project was awarded under Priority 1, Measure 6 (Training for Farmers) of the PEACE II Programme.
	Training through technology development and transfer is an on-going programme delivered through the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) which has been operational since January 2000. During 2003 when the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) was assessing how the PEACE II N+2 targets could be met, this programme was considered under the "Innovative Actions" strand of activities seeking to ensure expenditure targets could be achieved. Such innovative actions were approved by the PEACE II Monitoring Committee.
	The technology development and transfer programme was considered consistent with the terms of the PEACE II Programme and an application was submitted by CAFRE to Measure 1.6 for the project titled, Developing Agriculture through Technology Adoption (DATA). The application was considered in the normal manner by a three person Selection Panel against the Peace and Reconciliation and Measure Specific criteria and judged successful. The Selection Panel included a person independent of DARD. The success of this application enabled DARD to meet its N+2 targets and ensured no loss of PEACE II funding.
	The Letter of Offer in respect of the DATA project was issued by Pauline McCloy, Director of Rural Development, on behalf of DARD, and accepted on behalf of the College by Paul McGurnaghan, CAFRE Deputy Director and John Fay, CAFRE Director.
	As the DATA project is a training programme the money allocated covers staff costs and other expenditure solely related to the delivery of the project such as set-up costs associated with demonstrations and publicity booklets for the programme. None of the money allocated is used to fund any of the running costs associated with other CAFRE activities.

Contaminated Land

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of part 3 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 in tackling contaminated land in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The provisions of part 3 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 have not yet been brought into operation. In order to do so, it will be necessary to supplement the provisions of part 3 by further policy development and subordinate legislation. Until now priority in the allocation of resources within the Department of the Environment has had to be given to dealing with a backlog of overdue EU directives.
	However, in preparation for the implementation of the forthcoming EU Directive on Environmental Liability, the Department is currently examining the work and resources that will be necessary to bring the statutory contaminated land regime into operation in advance of the directive.

Cory Reports Inquiry

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on meeting from public funds the costs of legal advice and representation to (a) present and (b) former servants of the Crown who are summoned to give evidence to a public inquiry established as a result of the Cory Reports.

Paul Murphy: Once the inquiries begin, reasonable costs of legal assistance will be met from the public purse for those invited to assist them, in accordance with the procedures that will apply to each inquiry. This will include any present or former public servants who are called to give evidence.

Crime Detection Rates

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Police Service of Northern Ireland crime detection rates were in each month during the last two years, broken down by named geographic areas designated by individual district command units.

Ian Pearson: The following table provides the information requested with the exception of figures forMarch 2004 which are not currently available.
	
		Detection rates by DCU for 2002–2003 and 2003–2004Percentage
		
			  Antrim Ards East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Larne 
		
		
			 2002–03  
			 April 2002 30.4 21 9.7 11.6 18.0 22.7 28.1 11.7 42.3 
			 May 2002 16.5 21.5 11.2 12.2 12.3 21.1 21.8 13.2 19.0 
			 June 2002 15.6 23.2 10.1 13.2 12.5 21.1 14.2 9.7 29.8 
			 July 2002 16.0 34.3 15.5 11.6 20.4 21.6 23.3 16.4 36.7 
			 August 2002 19.9 19.6 21.2 12.6 13.4 20.0 23.3 13.1 27.2 
			 September 2002 17.9 24.1 12.7 17.9 15.7 16.8 37.8 11.8 44.2 
			 October 2002 9.3 28.8 16.3 22.6 18.3 17.6 30.3 16.7 25.9 
			 November 2002 9.2 26.4 19.0 21.3 17.6 22.3 25.9 20.2 49.2 
			 December 2002 16.4 27.2 14.8 18.8 15.7 21.6 28.3 16.7 35.0 
			 January 2003 10.3 24.9 21.8 17.0 16.3 21.4 27.3 17.7 25.4 
			 February 2003 8.9 29 27.4 18.4 17.2 12.9 21.1 25.5 38.1 
			 March 2003 10.7 32.4 23.4 15.7 14.1 17.4 28.8 18.2 47.1 
			   
			 2003–2004 1  
			 April 2003 15.0 26.5 19.1 15.7 17.0 20.6 25.2 14.9 42.3 
			 May 2003 10.5 23.9 25.3 18.0 16.1 26.2 34.1 18.6 57.4 
			 June 2003 15.6 25.9 20.5 15.7 23.0 19.4 26.2 13.5 35.3 
			 July 2003 16.6 25.3 20.1 15.1 22.6 18.1 26.5 19.8 43.0 
			 August 2003 14.2 24.0 23.1 17.6 20.4 18.4 26.7 32.9 33.1 
			 September 2003 19.2 24.3 33.1 16.9 22.3 15.8 38.3 19.9 37.6 
			 October 2003 20.7 29.5 35.5 21.3 17.6 16.9 35.7 14.1 39.5 
			 November 2003 16.4 28.2 25.8 21.3 19.2 21.6 24.8 18.4 49.0 
			 December 2003 18.5 22.6 33.2 23.5 17.1 18.9 30.6 23.9 31.7 
			 January 2004 25.3 31.9 31.4 18.6 18.5 15.0 29.3 23.1 38.6 
			 February 2004 23.1 36.0 40.8 23.2 19.3 12.4 58.5 20.3 30.4 
		
	
	
		Detection rates by DCU for 2002–2003 and 2003–2004Percentage
		
			  Down Fermanagh Foyle Limavady Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Omagh Strabane 
		
		
			 2002–03  
			 April 2002 20.1 25.3 25.7 28.4 34.7 41.5 23.5 48.79 67.9 
			 May 2002 21.9 30.0 26.6 26.9 31.0 43.1 22.5 39.9 32.0 
			 June 2002 22.9 29.8 21.4 21.0 35.2 29.7 25.2 37.8 28.9 
			 July 2002 17.7 21.7 22.8 27.3 21.2 18.9 29.5 45.7 42.9 
			 August 2002 21.9 33.0 20.2 27.3 23.6 40.0 21.3 39.3 39.7 
			 September 2002 28.6 39.6 22.3 24.2 20.6 41.6 23.9 60.2 44.7 
			 October 2002 30.9 24.9 27.8 40.1 31.2 58.0 22.8 39.3 42.7 
			 November 2002 25.2 35.0 26.3 39.4 21.1 29.6 24.3 38.2 60.4 
			 December 2002 24.9 25.3 25.3 32.5 32.6 20.0 23.7 45.6 38.7 
			 January 2003 37.6 30.2 30.6 29.5 34.2 39.5 28.0 41.7 46.7 
			 February 2003 31.8 33.9 25.4 24.9 40.7 25.8 24.4 36.7 55.1 
			 March 2003 25.2 25.7 21.3 37.3 41.1 48.5 24.0 31.1 70.2 
			   
			 2003–2004 1  
			 April 2003 27.6 28.2 24.5 37.0 38.3 39.2 24.6 39.9 29.1 
			 May 2003 29.3 24.8 26.6 23.3 36.9 20.5 24.9 29.6 45.1 
			 June 2003 25.6 30.3 23.3 35.6 40.7 62.7 22.3 48.5 39.1 
			 July 2003 30.0 36.3 25.0 38.8 36.8 34.0 34.0 42.1 47.9 
			 August 2003 23.7 25.4 23.7 27.3 35.8 35.0 29.4 55.7 44.6 
			 September 2003 26.5 21.2 26.3 29.9 34.3 26.1 33.8 42.2 43.0 
			 October 2003 30.5 33.3 31.5 37.7 41.1 43.5 27.7 55.1 52.5 
			 November 2003 30.4 29.5 21.9 31.3 31.0 22.4 19.3 32.4 48.5 
			 December 2003 27.0 23.3 17.5 24.3 21.7 30.1 28.1 39.2 44.1 
			 January 2004 27.0 23.5 21.7 33.3 27.0 13.4 31.4 47.1 46.7 
			 February 2004 29.7 36.1 23.1 33.9 52.3 25.4 30.0 33.5 61.4 
		
	
	
		Detection rates by DCU for 2002–2003 and 2003–2004Percentage
		
			  Lisburn Newtownabbey North Down Armagh Banbridge Ballymeana Ballymoney Coleraine Cookstown 
		
		
			 2002–03  
			 April 2002 19.4 11.5 15.7 33.6 34.5 49.3 32.7 29.3 33.5 
			 May 2002 17.4 10.0 13.9 46.0 29.7 26.1 22.6 24.6 32.2 
			 June 2002 28.4 10.8 13.4 38.7 37.5 30.8 26.1 18.3 29.1 
			 July 2002 23.4 12.3 14.8 29.0 35..5 32.6 31.5 25.5 38.8 
			 August 22.2 18.9 17.4 39.7 38.8 27.0 26.8 21.6 26.5 
			 September 2002 21.3 13.5 21.9 28.1 52.0 27.5 47.4 22.0 25.7 
			 October 2002 21.0 15.0 19.1 28.1 43.6 26.6 38.5 34.7 37.0 
			 November 2002 24.2 15.9 20.5 39.6 38.7 41.1 31.5 30.5 27.3 
			 December 2002 23.3 14.7 24.8 29.5 32.6 22.6 22.2 22.8 29.3 
			 January 2003 24.3 15.6 33.4 29.8 37.6 24.7 61.7 30.5 31.8 
			 February 2003 18.3 17.7 25.3 31.6 46.2 25.1 43.6 35.0 27.1 
			 March 2003 11.5 27.2 38.0 43.6 38.3 28.3 59.8 46.4 21.7 
			   
			 2003–2004 1  
			 April 2003 18.6 18.1 20.7 45.1 52.4 23.6 28.7 24.4 45.1 
			 May 2003 23.8 18.4 26.5 53.5 40.6 35.6 23.8 22.1 35.6 
			 June 2003 24.2 18.4 20.5 38.8 38.8 32.1 48.2 20.5 40.7 
			 July 2003 22.4 19.8 28.5 39.0 38.3 26.1 39.8 36.0 41.5 
			 August 2003 21.5 24.2 24.8 34.4 35.6 27.2 47.9 31.2 34.0 
			 September 2003 24.1 22.7 27.0 33.0 32.6 36.1 27.5 32.7 37.6 
			 October 2003 26.6 20.7 29.0 47.7 32.4 43.8 54.2 25.4 50.0 
			 November 2003 22.5 19.0 31.7 44.3 31.1 37.7 40.0 28.4 49.7 
			 December 2003 24.5 31.7 27.5 31.5 35.1 29.4 23.6 21.2 52.7 
			 January 2004 20.9 20.7 28.2 36.0 30.3 43.7 25.8 27.3 56.3 
			 February 2004 20.5 24.7 36.2 45.5 26.4 46.9 42.9 34.7 51.9 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			   Craigavon Dungannon and South Tyrone 
		
		
			 2002–03   
			 April 2002 28.0 42.2 
			 May 2002 21.2 35.1 
			 June 2002 30.3 22.9 
			 July 2002 21.3 34.5 
			 August 2002 19.0 40.8 
			 September 2002 18.0 24.4 
			 October 2002 25.6 59.0 
			 November 2002 22.7 28.9 
			 December 2002 27.7 28.8 
			 January 2003 17.6 23.0 
			 February 2003 12.9 41.3 
			 March 2003 18.4 30.2 
			
			 2003–2004 1   
			 April 2003 21.8 37.4 
			 May 2003 12.2 29.9 
			 June 2003 17.2 37.6 
			 July 2003 24.2 45.9 
			 August 2003 24.9 41.2 
			 September 2003 28.9 48.7 
			 October 2003 25.0 42.0 
			 November 2003 21.2 35.8 
			 December 2003 25.4 45.2 
			 January 2004 29.9 47.1 
			 February 2004 21.8 29.5 
		
	
	(23) Please note that clearance rates for March 2004 are not yet available. Clearance rates for 2003–2004 are provisional and as such are liable to revision.

Drugs

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) arrests were made, (b) people were charged, (c) cautions were issued and (d) convictions were made, for drug offences in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, broken down by (i) drug classification category and (ii) Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency.

Ian Pearson: I have placed in the Library, tables that provide the information requested for arrests, charges, and cautions for the financial years 2001–02 and 2002–03. Figures for 2003–04 are not yet available. As it is not possible to provide an analysis by Parliamentary constituency a breakdown by PSNI District Command Unit is provided instead. Data relating to convictions can be provided only by calendar year.

Education Ancillary Workers

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will undertake a review of the effect of Jarvis PPP contract proposals on education ancillary workers.

Barry Gardiner: A review of the effect of particular PPP contract proposals would not be appropriate. PPP projects are publicly advertised and contractors selected through an open competitive process. Successful contractors must satisfy all the criteria set for each project.
	TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment Regulations) will apply to the transferring staff, which means that their current contractual terms and conditions will be protected. On pensions, Jarvis has also given a commitment that it will apply for membership of the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Scheme.
	I also understand the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Board has written to you recently offering a meeting to discuss your concerns.

Environmental Prosecutions

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions have been brought under part 3 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 since its introduction; and what the average penalty has been.

Angela Smith: Part 3 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 has not yet been brought into operation. Consequently no prosecutions have been brought under its provisions.

Farm Fraud

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what types of farming fraud offences were detected; and how many cases of each occurred in the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The types of farming fraud and the number of cases detected during the last year (April 2003 to March 2004) were as follows:
	
		
			  Number of cases 
		
		
			 Livestock Subsidy (Sheep Annual Premium Scheme) 65 
			 Cattle Identification/Livestock Subsidy (Cattle) 28 
			 Ear Tag Interference 2 
			 Integrated Administration and Control (IACS) 8 
			 Animal Disease Compensation 6

Fishing Industry

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for   Northern Ireland how many applications have beenreceived under the current fishing vessel (a) decommissioning scheme and (b) tie-up scheme; how many applications have been granted for boats in (i) Portavogie, (ii) Ardglass and (iii) Kilkeel in each case; and how much money has been allocated to each scheme in each case.

Ian Pearson: Requested information in respect of the 2003 Decommissioning Scheme and The Temporary Cessation Tie up scheme 2004 as at 16 April 2004 is shown in the tables.
	
		Decommissioning
		
			  Applications Received Applications Approved Grant paid to date 16 April 2004 (£) 
		
		
			 Portavogie 20 5 1,077,767 
			 Ardglass 7 3 489,900 
			 Kilkeel 25 11 2,932,369 
			 Total 52 19 4,500,037 
		
	
	
		Tie Up Scheme
		
			  Applications Received Applications Approved Grant paid to date 16 April 2004 (£) 
		
		
			 Portavogie 14 13 256,152 
			 Ardglass 1 1 1,632 
			 Kilkeel 15 13 190,569 
			 Total 30 27 448,355

General de Chastelain

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, column 300W, on General de Chastelain, if he will list the full days since 1 January that General de Chastelain has spent in the Province.

Ian Pearson: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning has now advised that, on average, General de Chastelain spends oneweek per month in Northern Ireland on decommissioning work. In the year 2003, the General was in Northern Ireland for 82 days. So far this year he was in NI for 6 days in February. Further visits have been planned for April and May.

Hospital Shuttle Bus Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost in 2003–04 of the shuttle buses currently serving the Royal Victoria Hospital.

John Spellar: Translink has advised that for the year 2003–04 the cost of providing the shuttle bus service to the Royal Victoria Hospital from Belfast City Centre was £80,300. Income from fares amounting to £69,400 went towards supporting this service.

Hospital Shuttle Bus Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost of introducing a shuttle bus service between the Ulster Hospital and Belfast City Centre.

John Spellar: Translink has advised that the estimated cost of providing a shuttle bus service between Belfast City Centre and the Ulster Hospital at Dundonald would be approximately £156,600 per year, depending on the required hours of operation and frequency of service. Although Translink do not supply a dedicated bus to the Ulster Hospital, approximately 190 buses per day stop at a terminus, located adjacent to the hospital.

Local Area Partnerships

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the membership and timetable for local area partnerships recommended by the Costello report, broken down by education board area.

Barry Gardiner: Local Planning and Development Partnerships will comprise representatives of schools and school managing authorities in local areas. The arrangements to establish these partnerships are currently under consideration by the Department of Education with the aim of having them in place by the beginning of the next school year.

Nursing Homes

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what restrictions there are on the rates charged to residents by nursing homes.

Angela Smith: The rates charged to private residents by nursing homes are a matter for negotiation and agreement between both parties. In the case of residents who are supported with public funds it is the Health and Social Services (HSS) Trust that arranges the nursing home placement and agrees to pay an appropriate tariff to the nursing home. Nursing homes may not charge residents for accommodation or care, including the nursing care of private residents, paid for by HSS Trusts.

Nursing Homes

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether nursing homes are permitted to charge different residents at differing rates.

Angela Smith: Nursing homes may charge individual residents different amounts based on the type and extent of care needed and the standard of facilities and accommodation provided. Nursing homes providing care for different classes of resident, i.e. elderly, mental health or other disablement, charge rates that are based on the level of care usually given to the specific class ofresident the nursing home is authorised to accommodate. The four Health and Social Services Boards have set regional tariffs that Health and Social Services Trusts will normally pay for the appropriate standard placement for each class of resident. Trusts retain the authority to vary the amount payable where the resident is assessed to require additional services.

Paramilitary Offences

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 17 March, Official Report, columns 305–6W, on paramilitary offences, how many of the 106 deaths have been solved through the arrest and conviction of the people responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The following table provides details of the number of security related murders and charges in respect of these murders.
	
		Persons murdered as a result of the security situation 11April 1998 to 29February 2004
		
			  Perceived attribution(24)  
			  By Loyalist By Republican Total 
		
		
			 Number of persons   murdered 53 49 (25)102 
			 Number of murders for   which someone has been   charged 18 1 19 
		
	
	(24) Attribution is as perceived by PSNI based on the information available.
	(25) Excludes 4 deaths where the deceased was not murdered by terrorists but died in security related circumstances.
	With regard to criminal proceedings there have been convictions for murder in respect of four deaths; convictions for lesser offences in respect of three deaths (including two for manslaughter); and directions of no prosecutions by the DPP or acquittals at trial in respect of five deaths. Of the remaining seven deaths where murder charges have been brought by police, the relevant cases are awaiting direction by the DPP or have yet to reach trial.

Peace II Programme

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 868W on PEACE II Programme, if he will break down each of the monthly figures by organisation to which money was allocated; under what measure number the PEACE II money was allocated; and how much money not allocated from the PEACE II funds is accessible by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Ian Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's budget for 2003–04, excluding PEACE II, totalled £478.5 million.
	It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the monthly expenditure figures provided in my answer of 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 868W. The figures given then were extracted from data that was collected by the Special EU Programmes Body for weekly reports and was not broken down at that time to project level.
	The following data is drawn from the Structural Funds database at 16 April 2004 and represents a more up-to-date position of the expenditure entered onto the database during the six months in question:
	
		
			  Month PEACE II Measure  Project Amount paid (£) 
		
		
			 July 2003   Nil 
			 
			 August 2003 1.6 DDA Training Services 72,160 
			   Acorn Business Centre 75,647 
			   Fermanagh College 75,003 
			   North Down and Ards Institute 90,444 
			   GG Enterprises Ltd. 68,020 
			   Info-Net IT Services 38,986 
			  1.7A Fermanagh College 44,565 
			   Family Farm Development Ltd. 163,312 
			   Countryside Services Ltd. 113,459 
			   Laganside Rural Development Ltd. 66,643 
			   Rural Area Partnership In Derry 23,617 
			 
			 September 2003 5.7 Northern Ireland Seafood 33,774 
			 
			 October 2003 1.6 Acorn Business Centre 23,353 
			   Loughgiel Farmers Development Group Ltd. 2,315 
			   Coleraine LAG for Enterprise 70,416 
			   GG Enterprises Ltd. 30,318 
			   Info-Net IT Services 31,442 
			   Magherafelt Area Partnership Ltd. 73,051 
			  1.7A Family Farm Development Ltd. 210,629 
			   Laganside Rural Development Ltd. 70,376 
			   Countryside Services Ltd. 179,937 
			   Fermanagh College 67,500 
			   Rural Area Partnership In Derry 1,925 
			  5.7 Northern Ireland Seafood 89,748 
			 
			 November 2003 1.2B Mourne Heritage Trust 73,896 
			   Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism 48,100 
			   Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust 12,817 
			  1.6 Armagh College 65,227 
			   DDA Training Services 3,879 
			   Fermanagh College 26,725 
			   Info-Net IT Services 6,706 
			   Desertmartin and District Farming Group 1,580 
			   North Down and Ards Institute 6,246 
			   College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise 8,652,472 
			   Magherafelt Area Partnership Ltd. 2,494 
			   Newry and Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education 62,358 
			  1.7A Fermanagh College 26,648 
			   Laganside Rural Development Ltd. 16,749 
			   Newry and Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education 80,747 
			   Rural Area Partnership In Perry 75,477 
			  4.2B Mourne Heritage Trust 20,000 
			  5.7 Northern Ireland Seafood 197,861 
			 
			 December 2003 1.2B National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland 2,934 
			  1.6 Trillick and District Farmers Countryside Group 5,300 
			   Down Livestock Group 1,128 
			   Loughgiel Farmers Development Group Ltd. 2,315 
			   DDA Training Services 7,820 
			   Coleraine LAG for Enterprise 6,929 
			   Markethill Suckler Farmers Devt Gp Ltd. 2,000 
			  1.7A Laganside Rural Development Ltd. 57,233 
			  4.2B Cookstown Tourist Information Centre 4,698 
			  5.7 Northern Ireland Seafood 51,456

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) regular, (b) full-time reserve and (c) part-time reserve police officers were (i) in the establishment plan and (ii) in place in North Belfast in each year since 1996.

Ian Pearson: The following table shows the numbers of regular, full-time reserve and part-time reserve officers based in North Belfast since 1996. It should be noted that the establishment figure for each District Command Unit is determined by the Chief Constable.
	
		Numbers of regular, full-time reserve and part-time reserve officers based in North Belfast since 1996
		
			Regular officers   Full-time reserve officers   Part-time reserve officers 
			  Established Actual Established Actual Established Actual 
		
		
			 April 1996(26) (27)— 343 (27)— 154 (27)— 139 
			 April 1997(26) (27)— 346 (27)— 139 (27)— 128 
			 April 1998(26) (27)— 355 (27)— 147 (27)— 121 
			 April 1999(26) (27)— 353 (27)— 145 (27)— 119 
			 April 2000 362 336 148 128 153 108 
			 April 2001 446 394 159 130 153 104 
			 April 2002 436 349 159 109 153 100 
			 April 2003 377 355 151 86 153 91 
			 February 2004 389 357 101 73 200 80 
		
	
	(26) CID not included.
	(27) No establishment data available.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of police reservists who would lose their jobs within each Police Service of Northern Ireland District Command Unit if the police reserve were to be phased out.

Ian Pearson: The Patten Report recommended that "the future police service should not include a Full Time Reserve", and this recommendation was accepted by the Government, subject to the security situation. In October 2002, the Chief Constable submitted a human resource strategy to the Policing Board. It proposed that, subject to no further deterioration in the security situation, and the continued success of recruitment to the Police Service, the Full Time Reserve would be phased out over an 18 month period starting in April 2005.
	The Chief Constable will review these matters later this year, and will subsequently put forward advice to the Board. An assessment of the potential operational impact on individual District Command Units of any phasing out process will form part of the Chief Constable's review.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) protestant and (b) Roman Catholic applicants who have qualified for appointment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland since the introduction of 50:50 recruiting have not been offered employment with the PSNI; and how many such applicants have passed the entrance examinations on more than one occasion.

Jane Kennedy: From competitions 1 to 4, 1,706 non-Catholic and 604 Catholic applicants have qualified for appointment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Of these, 530 of each community background have been appointed. Of the qualified Catholic candidates, all were offered appointment, but some withdrew in the time intervening between qualification for appointment and the time of appointment.
	Appointments from competition 5 have started, although the pool is not yet finalised, and the pool for competition 6 is not expected to be ready until April this year.
	The information on the number of candidates who have passed the entrance examinations (i.e. have been successful in becoming qualified candidates and reaching the merit pool) more than once is taking some time to collate. As soon as the figures are available, they will be forwarded.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the transgressions that bar an individual from becoming a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland are.

Ian Pearson: Transgressions that bar an individual from becoming a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland are set out in Schedule 1 of the Police (Recruitment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001, entitled "Criminal Convictions etc", in respect of eligibility for appointment as a police trainee in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Recruitment of Police Support Staff) Regulations 2002 similarly set   out the procedures in relation to support staff appointments.

Potato Ring Rot

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 3 February, Official Report, column 871W on potato ring rot, what vehicles purchased from modulation money for these purposes are now used.

Ian Pearson: Following the recent finding of potato ring rot in Wales, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development increased its existing stringent preventive measures to ensure that there was no plant health risk to the Northern Ireland potato industry. The majority of the costs associated with these additional measures related to DARD staff time, though small capital expenditure was incurred in 2003 on diagnostic work related to potato ring rot. No vehicles were purchased for the purposes of potato ring rot control.

Power-sharing

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what power sharing arrangements have been adopted for the appointment of mayor, deputy mayor and committee chairs in each district council area.

Angela Smith: There are a number of formal and informal power sharing arrangements operated by district councils for the appointment of mayor, deputy mayor and committee chairs. These include proportionality systems such as the D'Hondt system, the rotation of posts or a combination of these. The following table is based on information provided to the Department of the Environment by district councils and shows for each district council whether power sharing arrangements are in place.
	
		
			 District council 1 Mayor Deputy mayor Committee chair 
		
		
			 Antrim BC Formal (Rotation) Informal (Rotation) Informal (Rotation) 
			 Ards BC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable 
			 Armagh C and DC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable 
			 Ballymena BC Informal (Power Sharing by Unionist parties) Informal (Power Sharing by Unionist parties) Informal (Power Sharing by all parties) 
			 Ballymoney BC None None None 
			 Banbridge DC Formal (Proportionality) Formal (Proportionality) Formal (Proportionality) 
			 Belfast CC No formal arrangement No formal arrangement Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Carrickfergus BC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable 
			 Castlereagh BC None None None 
			 Coleraine BC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Cookstown DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Rotation) Formal (Rotation) 
			 Craigavon BC None None None 
			 Derry CC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Down DC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable 
			 Dungannon and ST BC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Fermanagh DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Larne BC Informal (Power Sharing) Informal (Power Sharing) Informal (Power Sharing) 
			 Limavady BC Formal (Power Sharing) Formal (Power Sharing) Formal (Power Sharing) 
			 Lisburn BC None None None 
			 Magherafelt DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) None None 
			 Moyle DC Formal (Rotation) Formal (Rotation) (29)n/a 
			 Newry and Mourne DC Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) 
			 Newtownabbey BC Informal (Based on party strengths) Informal (Based on party strengths) Informal (Based on party strengths) 
			 North Down BC None None None 
			 Omagh DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
			 Strabane DC Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 
		
	
	(28) A number of councils have not been able to respond in the time available.
	(29) Moyle District Council does not operate a committee system.

Punishment Beatings

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals now serving a sentence in Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre (a) were victims of punishment beatings and (b) were classed as exiles prior to being detained in the centre.

Ian Pearson: The Northern Ireland Prison Service does not collect data in the manner requested above. This is due to the fact that many inmates refuse to disclose the level of threat to which they have been subject; nor do we have any information on 'exiles'.
	The only information available to us is from a survey of the inmate population of Hydebank Wood, conducted in March 2004 by representatives from Queens University Belfast. In the course of this survey they did receive responses from the inmates regarding their experiences of violence and threats.
	Out of a sample size of 187 inmates the following was obtained:
	Inmates were asked:
	"Have you ever been threatened or assaulted by paramilitaries"
	59.4 per cent. said that they had been threatened.
	51 per cent. said that they had been assaulted.
	The inmates were asked a supplementary question:
	"and in the last year, were you threatened or assaulted by paramilitaries".
	12.8 per cent. said that they had been threatened in the last year.
	7 per cent. said that they had been assaulted in the last year.
	23.5 per cent. said that they had been threatened and assaulted in the last year.
	The inmates were finally asked:
	"By which grouping, Loyalist or Republican"
	21 per cent. (39 people) said they had been threatened or assaulted by Loyalists in the last year
	21 per cent. (39 people) said that they had been threatened or assaulted by Republicans in the last year.
	1 per cent. (two people) said that they had been threatened or assaulted by both groups in the last year.

Pupil Behavioural Surveys

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the   (a) cost, (b) number and (c) results of pupil behavioural surveys carried out in each education board area in the last year.

Barry Gardiner: The information requested is not available in that form. However, each Education and Library Board does submit an annual statistical return to the Department of Education giving details of the total number of pupils who have been suspended or expelled. The statistics for the 2002/03 school year are as follows:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Number of Pupils Suspended 5,320 
			 Number of Pupils Expelled 70 
		
	
	In addition the Belfast Education and Library Board has recently published the findings of its "Behaviour in a Learning City—Best Value Review of the Provision of Behaviour Support".

Racism

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to combat racism in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Government have frequently put on   record its abhorrence of all forms of intolerance and   racism. It is committed to eradicating such manifestations of hatred, whether based on racism or based on sectarianism and is developing a co-ordinated response to the problem in Northern Ireland.
	Enforcement action by Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue to be the key to tackling such attacks, and PSNI enforcement action will be accompanied by a range of actions by the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Departments. As well as new legislative proposals, these will include measures on education, housing, health and social policy issues. The final version of the Race Equality Strategy (which takes account of extensive consultation with all sections of NI society) will be published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister this summer and specific actions will be included in a detailed implementation plan developed in line with the strategy.
	The Government's Community Safety Strategy, being implemented through the Community Safety Unit of the Northern Ireland Office, identified offences motivated by prejudice and hatred as a central theme in making Northern Ireland a safer place for all its citizens. Specifically, the Strategy seeks to reduce the levels of crime motivated by sectarianism, and to promote and enhance the safety of minority ethnic residents. Currently, the Unit is facilitating a working group of voluntary and statutory organisations which aims to establish a clear framework and operational system for the recording and monitoring of a number of hate crimes. These will include sectarian, racist and homophobic incidents. It is hoped to bring forward the consultation on such an agreed framework by the end of June, with implementation intended by October 2004. Within its Community Safety grant programme, the Challenge Competition, the Unit has also provided funding towards four projects which have a central theme of countering prejudice and hatred to a total value of £273255.
	I have also published for consultation, draft legislation for Northern Ireland aimed at tackling racially motivated offences. The draft Order proposes provisions that will require sentencers, where offences are aggravated by such hostility, to treat racial and religious aggravation as an aggravating factor when sentencing. The legislation will also cover offences motivated by hatred of sexual orientation. The proposals will also increase maximum sentences available for certain specified, mainly violent, offences including where racial, religious or sexual aggravation is proven.
	The issues raised by racism are issues for all sections of society in Northern Ireland and in expressing abhorrence of racism, all of us must avoid the temptation to demonise entire areas and communities. It would be an act of prejudice itself to stereotype people because of where they live or because of their community background. I reiterate the acknowledgement in the Belfast Agreement of the unique opportunity that exists here to bring about a society which will recognise the full and equal legitimacy and worth of identities, senses of allegiance and ethos of all sections of the community in Northern Ireland.

Special Advisers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes have been made to the number of special advisers employed at the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister since suspension of devolution in October 2002.

Paul Murphy: During devolution six Special Advisers were employed by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The employment of all six terminated on suspension but four were subsequently re-appointed and continue to be employed by that Department.

Special Needs Education

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what differences there are between the methods of delivering special needs education in integrated and mainstream schools;
	(2)  what provision for special needs education is made in the (a) integrated and (b) mainstream sector.

Barry Gardiner: The assessment process and the provision put in place to meet a child's special educational needs (SEN) are determined by the needs of the individual and not the school sector in which the child is placed and there is therefore no difference across sectors in terms of the nature of support provided.
	Each Education and Library Board is responsible for Statements of Special Educational Needs for pupils resident in its area. The Board will meet the educational costs associated with the Statement in respect of pupils in maintained schools and in controlled schools (including controlled integrated schools). The cost of the educational provision in Statements for children in grant—maintained integrated (GMI) schools is met by the Department because it has direct funding responsibility for these schools.
	In addition, resources are allocated to schools (including GMI schools) through the various LMS formulae to assist pupils with special educational needs who do not require a Statement.

Stormont Castle

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost to the public purse has been of the recent refurbishment of Stormont Castle.

Ian Pearson: Stormont Castle was refurbished on   behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive. The refurbishment was completed in 2001. The total cost of the work was £8 million.

Terrorism

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he made to the Prime Minister prior to his visit to Libya last week about the victims of terrorists supplied by Libyan arms and explosives.

Paul Murphy: The Government are aware of the recent calls by representatives of IRA victims and others that Libya should provide compensation for IRA victims.
	The Prime Minister discussed a wide range of issues with Colonel Gadaffi including international and regional security issues, including terrorism.

Tree Preservation Orders

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what applications for tree preservation orders in the vicinity of Danesfort Crescent, Steelstown Road and Greenhaw Road, Derry have been received.

Angela Smith: Planning Service has received five applications for tree preservation orders in the vicinity of Danesfort Crescent, Steelstown Road and Greenhaw Road, Derry.

Ulster-Scots

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has made to the Government of the Irish Republic on ratifying the   European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in respect of Ulster-Scots in the Republic of Ireland.

Paul Murphy: No representation has been made to the Irish Government.

UVF Ceasefire

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his current assessment is of the UVF ceasefire.

Ian Pearson: The Secretary of State keeps the ceasefires of all paramilitary organisations under review. The current judgment is that the UVF do not intend to end their ceasefire.